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MANUSCRIPT 
ROOM 


A 

DESCRIPTION 

OF  THE 

EAST, 

AND 

Some  other  Countries, 


VOLUME  the  Firft. 

OBSERVATIONS  on  EGTPT. 


By  RICHARD  PO  COCKE,  LL.D.  F.R.S. 


LONDON: 

Printed  for  the  Author,  by  W.  Bowjer;  and  fold  by  J.  and  P.  Knapton, 
W.  Innys,  W.  Meadows,  G.  Hawkins,  S.  Birt,  T.  Longman, 
C.  Hitch,  R.  Dodsley,  J.  Nourse,  and  J.  Rivihgton, 

MDCCXL1II. 


TO  THE 


RIGHT  HONOURABLE 

H     E     N    R  T 

Earl  of  Pembroke  and  Montgomery; 

Baron  Herbert  of  Caerdiff;  Ross  of  Kendal; 
Parr,  Fitz-Hugh,  Marmion,  St.  Qjjintin, 
and  Herbert  of  Shurland: 

Groom  of  the  Stole  to  HIS  MAJESTY. 

My  Lord, 

S  the  magnificent  buildings  of  Egypt,  and  an- 
tient  architecture  are  the  chief  fubjecl  of  this 
book,  it  could  not  be  more  properly  addreffed  than 
to  Your  Lordfhip. 

On  this  account,  with  all  its  imperfections,  it  may  meet 
with  a  more  favourable  reception  in  the  world  than  it  really 
deferves. 

4  But 


DEDICATION. 


But  Your  Lordfliip  knows,  it  was  a  cuftom  among  the 
antients,  which  prevails  at  this  time  in  the  eaft,  to  prefent  to 
great  perfons  of  the  beft  they  had ;  and  how  indifferent  fo- 
ever,  the  good  intention  fupplied  the  want  of  greater  abi- 
lities. 

I  have  alfo  the  fatisfa£tion  of  acknowledging  the  great 
obligations  I  fhall  always  be  fenfible  I  am  under  to  Your 
Lordfliip,  on  many  accounts ;  and  at  this  time  particularly, 
for  the  honour  Your  Lordfliip  is  pleafed  to  do  this  work, 
and  of  giving  me  an  opportunity  of  profefling  myfelf  to  be, 
with  the  utmoft  regard, 


My  Lord, 

Your  Lordfliip's 
molt  obedient  and 
mo  ft  humble  fervant, 


Richard  Pococke. 


THE 


PREFACE. 


TH  E  publifher  of  thefe  obfervations  at  firft  had  it 
only  in  his  thoughts,  to  give  the  world  the  plans 
he  had  taken  of  the  Egyptian  buildings,  together 
with  fome  drawings  of  them,  and  to  add  an  account,  and 
defigns  of  all  the  different  orders  of  Egyptian  architecture. 
He  imagined  even  plans  alone,  with  proper  defcriptions, 
not  fo  defective  as  they  might  be  with  regard  to  other 
buildings :  For,  where  there  are  no  windows,  and  a  very 
plain  and  uniform  manner  of  architecture  of  doors,  views, 
for  the  mod  part,  would  only  reprefent  a  dead  wall,  and  the 
entrances  ;  unlefs  there  had  been  llcill  and  opportunity  to  have 
drawn  the  hieroglyphics,  which  would  take  up  the  time  of  a 
long  life.  He  has,  however,  given  views  of  moft  of  the  diffe- 
rent forts  of  fronts  that  are  feen  in  the  Egyptian  buildings, 
where  they  are  adorn'd  with  pillars,  and  indeed  of  fo  many, 
that  he  cannot  recollect  that  he  has  omitted  more  than  two 
or  three,  where  there  are  any  considerable  ornaments  of  co- 
lumns ;  one  being  near  Efne,  of  the  fame  nature  as  the  other 
that  is  defign'd  in  that  plate ;  another  is  of  the  famous  temple 
of  Tentyra  at  Amara,  where  he  apprehended  the  pillars  in 
the  front  were  capitals  fomething  approaching  towards  the 
Corinthian  order,  as  fome  others  are  in  Egypt,  and  not  the 
head  of  Ifis,  as  within ;  but  he  could  not  find  drawings  of 
them,  nor  any  thing  in  his  notes  in  relation  to  them. 

What  he  has  done  will,  he  hopes,  give  a  fufficient  idea  of 
the  Egyptian  manner  of  building ;  and  if  he  had  gone  no 
further,  it  would  have  been  very  little  more  than  publifhing 
thefe  plates;  and  it  is  but  a  little  more  at  prefent,  by  the  per- 
fuafion  of  fome  friends,  to  give  an  account  of  his  travels,  and 
of  feveral  accidents,  that  might  give  an  infight  into  the  cu- 
ftoms  and  manners  of  people  fo  different  from  our  own,  in 
order  to  render  the  work  more  acceptable  to  the  generality  of 
readers. 

4  b  When 


PREFACE. 

When  he  was  engaged  fo  far,  he  thought  it  beft  to  give  as 
{hort  and  perfect  an  account  as  he  could  of  Egypt,  and  to 
add  fomething  of  the  government,  cuftoms,  and  natural  hi- 
ftory,  as  the  latter  would  alfo  give  a  general  idea  of  the 
Turkifti  polity  and  manners.  And  he  hopes  thofe  will  ex- 
cufe  what  they  may  think  trifling,  who  are  pleafed.  only  with 
antiquities,  and  to  fee  an  account  of  architecture  in  its  very 
firft  beginning.  And  fuch  as  delight  only  in  reading  tra- 
vels, and  the  hiftory  of  the  feveral  little  accidents  that  happen, 
may  pafs  over,  with  a  tranfient  view,  the  dry  defcription  of 
plans,  buildings,  and  ftatues,  which  others  may  efteem  as  the 
moft  valuable  part  of  this  book. 

There  are  few  things  in  the  plates  that  have  been  feen  be- 
fore, if  two  or  three  drawings  are  excepted,  that  he  either 
put  in  to  fill  up  the  plates,  or  becaufe  he  found  them  better 
in  others,  than  be  could  give  them  himfelf.  Of  the  firft  kind, 
are  the  profpe£t  of  Jofeph's  well  at  the  entrance,  and  the 
head  of  the  fphinx,  from  Le  Brun,  (though  this  is  with  fome 
alterations,  as  to  the  ornaments  of  the  head  ;)  and  of  the  lat- 
ter are  the  feftion  of  the  great  pyramid  by  Mallet,  and  the 
views  of  the  convents  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Anthony,  from  a 
manufcript  map.  And,  though  the  drawings  of  Jofeph's  well, 
and  the  Mikias,  have  been  publilh'd  before,  yet  he  thought 
it  proper  to  have  them  engraved,  according  to  his  own  obfer- 
vations,  to  make  this  account  more  perfect ;  and  he  imagines, 
at  leaft,  that  they  may  be  fome  improvement  on  the  others. 

He  thought  it  beft  to  give  an  account  of  all  the  buildings 
he  faw  in  Egypt,  in  a  regular  manner,  as  if  he  had  feen 
them  all  when  he  went  up  the  Nile,  in  order  to  prevent 
any  confulion  of  things  in  the  mind  of  the  reader,  and  the 
better  to  fettle  the  antient  geography,  by  taking  all  the  pla- 
ces, with  their  antiquities,  in  their  natural  order,  although  he 
faw  many  of  them  in  his  return.  He  hopes  no  very  grofs 
errors,  much  lefs  inconfiftencies,  will  be  found  in  this  work  ; 
but  if  any  fuch  ftiould  have  flipped,  efpecially  with  relation 
to  fome  conjectures  and  calculations,  that  may  or  may  not 
have  the  foundation  of  truth  to  build  on,  being  only  ofFer'd 
to  the  confideration  of  the  readers  j  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they 
will  impute  them  only  to  a  want  of  due  recollection  of  the 
great  variety  of  things  that  have  occurred  in  fuch  a  courfe  of 
rambling,  or  to  his  having  apprehended  things  in  a  different 

manner, 


PREFACE. 

manner,  in  different  parts  of  his  journal,  to  which  he  had  re- 
courfe  in  making  thefe  remarks.  It  muft  alfo  be  confider'd 
that  he  has  defcended  to  feveral  particulars,  purely  for  the 
fake  of  thofe  who  hereafter  may  travel  into  Egypt,  and  has 
added  many  things  on  the  fame  account,  that  might  otherwife 
have  been  omitted ;  which  are  not  all  related  as  certain  truths, 
but  only  as  intimations,  that  may  chance  to  give  an  opportu- 
nity of  fixing  feveral  things,  that  are  not  yet  fufficiently 
clear'd  up ;  fuch  particularly  are  all  thofe  conjectures  that 
are  made  in  relation  to  the  rife  of  the  Nile. 

It  muft  be  obferved  with  regard  to  the  map  of  Egypt,  that 
where  canals  are  marked  out  in  points,  they  are  only  where  he 
fuppofes  the  antient  canals  of  the  Nile  did  formerly  run. 

Thofe  perfons  will  be  much  difappointed,  who  expect  any 
ornaments  of  ftyle  in  this  work ;  for  he  will  be  well  fatisfied 
if  they  find  nothing  that  deferves  cenfure  in  that  refpecT:,  as  it 
was  his  intention  to  relate  every  thing  in  the  plaineft  manner, 
according  to  the  obfervations  he  could  make,  and  the  beft  of 
his  judgment. 

If  thofe,  who  expected  to  be  diverted,  do  not  find  fufficient 
entertainment,  it  is  owing  to  his  good  fortune;  and  it  would 
be  (training  politenefs  to  too  high  a  pitch,  to  fay  that  he  is 
forry  he  did  not  meet  with  more  unlucky  accidents,  in  order 
to  relate  a  greater  variety  of  pleafant  ftories;  but  he  has  how- 
ever given  an  account  of  almoft  all  the  incidents  that  hap- 
pen'd,  in  their  natural  order,  without  pretending  to  any  great 
art  or  judgment  in  felecting  them. 

He  will  doubtlefs  be  cenfured,  if  fault  be  found  with  con- 
jectures, where  things  are  dark,  or  with  fupplying  buildings, 
where  they  are  ruin'd  ;  but  as  the  buildings  that  are  (landing 
are  engraved  with  double  lines,  thofe  that  are  ruin'd  with 
fingle  lines,  and  thofe  fuppofed,  where  there  remain  little  or 
no  figns  of  buildings,  with  points,  every  one  may  fee  what  is 
really  in  being,  and  that  he  offers  nothing  to  the  world  with 
defign  to  deceive  :  Nor  does  he  pretend  to  be  intirely  infalli- 
ble, as  to  his  plans  ;  and  though  he  took  great  pains  in  mea- 
furing  all  the  antient  buildings,  yet  he  is  fenfible  there  may  be 
omiffions  and  miftakes,  though  he  endeavour'd,  as  much  as 
pofiible,  to  avoid  them.  He  muft  alfo  obferve,  that  he  only 
took  an  account  of  the  Deities  in  the  forty-third  plate,  omit- 
ting to  make  a  particular  drawing  of  them. 

In 

3 


PREFACE. 

In  a  work  of  this  nature,  without  doubt,  there  muft  be 
many  errors  and  faults ;  but  he  hopes  the  readers  will  be  can- 
did, if  they  think  he  has  endeavour'd  to  give  an  account  of 
things  as  they  really  are ;  and  if  they  confider  withal  the 
dangers,  inconveniences,  and  many  uneafy  hours,  any  one 
muft  have  fuffer'd  in  near  feven  years  travels  in  fuch  coun- 
tries, and  in  a  manner  alone,  and  reflect  on  many  other  cir- 
cumftances  that  attend  the  collecting  and  publilhing  thele 
materials ;  he  is  perfuaded  they  will  excufe  his  fending  into 
the  world  this  imperfect  account. 


CON- 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  the  Firft. 
Of  the  lower  parts  of  Egypt. 


c 


HAP.  I.    Of  Egypt  in  general ;  Alexandria,  and  the  places  neai 


Chap.  II. 
Chap.  III. 
Chap.  IV. 
Chap 
Chap 
Chap 


V. 
VI. 
VII. 


It. 


page  i 


From  Alexandria  to  Rofetto  and  Grand  Cairo. 
Between  Damiata  and  Grand  Cairo. 
Of  Grand  Cairo. 

Of  Memphis,  and  the  pyramids  near  Cairo. 
Of  the  catacombs  and  pyramids  of  Saccara. 
Of  Faiume,  the  old  Arfinoe,  the  Labyrinth,  and  the  lake 
MtEris.  j  j 


'3 
18 

39 
48 


BOOK  the  Second. 

From  Grand  Cairo  to  the  antient  Ethiopia,  above  the  Cataract 
of  the  Nile,  and  back  to  Cairo  and  Damiata. 


Chap.  I. 


Chap.  II. 


Chap.  III. 
Chap.  IV. 

Chap.  V. 


Chap.  VI. 


Of  Archemounain,  Gaua,  and  other  places  in  the  way  to  Ak- 
mim.  68 

Section  I.    Of  Akmim,  and  the  places  near  it.  y 6 

Section  II.  From  Akmim  to  Menfheeh,  Girge,  Furfhout, 
Tcntyra,  Kena,  Kept,  Cous,  and  Thebes.  8r 

Of  Thebes.  90 

From  Thebes  to  Erment,  Efne,  Etfou,  Ombus,  and  Aflbuan, 
the  old  Syene  near  the  cataracts.  1 1  o 

Of  Affouan,  Syene  under  the  tropic,  Elephantine,  the  Quar- 
ries of  granite,  the  catarafls,  Philie,  and  the  borders  of 
Ethiopia.  116 

From  the  catarafts  down  to  Grand  Cairo  and  Damiata.    1 2  3 


BOOK  the  Third. 

From  Grand  Cairo  by  the  Red  Sea,  into  Arabia  Petrasa,  to 
Mount  Sinai,  and  back  to  Cairo,  Rofetto,  and  Alexandria. 

Chap.  I.  From  Grand  Cairo  to  Suez,  and  the  Red  Sea.  130 
Chap.  II.  Of  Arabia  Petraa.  From  Suez  to  Tor,  and  Mount  Sinai.  136 
Chap.  III.  Of  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  places  about  it.  143 
Chap.  IV.    Of  the  journey  of  the  children  of  Ifrael.  154 

c  Chap.  V. 


CONTENTS. 

Chap.  V.    From  Mount  Sinai  to  Suez,  Grand  Cairo,  Rofetto,  and  Alex- 
tidria.  page  158 


and 


BOOK  the  Fourth. 

Of  the  Government,  Cuftoms,  and  Natural  Hiftory  of 
Egypt. 

Chap.  I.      Of  the  government  of  Egypt.  161 
Chap.  II.      Of  the  military  bodies  in  Egypt.  166 
Chap.  III.    Of  the  adminiftration  of  jufiice,  public  revenues,  trade,  and 
manufactures  of  Egypt.  170 
Chap.  IV.    Of  the  ftate  of  religion  in  Egypt;  its  inhabitants,  their  po- 
licy. 1 7  <J 
Chap.  V.     Of  the  education,  cuftoms,  drefs,  and  modern  architecture  of 
Egypt;  and  of  the  caravan  to  Mecca.  180 
Chap.  VI.    Of  the  climate,  foil,  and  waters  of  Egypt.  195- 
Chap.  VII.   Of  the  Nile.  198 
Chap.  VIII.  Of  the  vegetables  of  Egypt.  204 
Chap.  IX.     Of  the  animals  of  Egypt.  207 

BOOK  V. 

Mifcellaneous  Subjects,  chiefly  relating  to  the  Antiquities  and 
Natural  Hiftory  of  Egypt. 

Chap.  I.      Of  fome  antiquities,  and  antient  weights  brought  from  Egypt. 

HI 

Chap.  II.     Of  the  antient  architecture  of  Egypt.  215- 
Chap.  III.    Of  the  mythology  of  the  antient  Egyptians.  22r 
Chap.  IV.    Of  the  antient  hieroglyphics  of  the  Egyptians.  227 
Chap.  V.      Of  the  Egyptian  manner  of  embalming  human  bodies  and 
birds.  230 
Chap.  VI.     An  abftract  from  Mallet's  account  of  the  infide  of  the  great 
pyramid.  234 
Chap.  VII.    Of  the  religion  of  the  Coptis  in  Egypt.  244 
Chap.  VIII.    The  hiftory  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile.  249 
Chap.  IX.      An  attempt  towards  fettling  the  real  rife  of  the  Nile.  253 
Chap.  X.       Of  the  method  of  cultivating  and  preparing  ice,  about  Ro- 
fetto :  Of  the  manner  of  making  Sal  Armoniac ;  and  of 
hatching  chickens  in  ovens.  ■  25-9 

Chap.  XI.      Of  the  proceffion  of  the  caravan  to  Mecca.  z6i 
Chap.  XII.     The  rout  of  the  caravan  from  Cairo  to  Mecca,  from  the  ac- 
count of  one  who  had  been  there  fourteen  times.  165 
Chap.  XIII.    An  account  of  the  Bey  of  Tunis;  his  court  and  govern- 
ment. %66 
Chap,  XIV.    The  patent  of  Mahomet,  which  he  granted  to  the  monks 
of  mount  Sinai,  and  to  Chriftians  in  general.  268 

Chap.  XV.  Forms 


3 


CONTENTS. 

Chap.  XV.      Forms  of  fome  letters  and  pafports,  according  to  theEaftem 


ftyle.  270 

Chap.  XVI.  Greek  infcriptions  found  in  Egypt.  277 
Chap.  XVII.    The  Egyptian  bifhopricks,  and  others  under  the  patriarch 

of  Alexandria,  from  the  patriarch's  map. 

Chap.  XVIII.    Of  Egyptian  and  Arabic  plants.  281 

Chap.  XIX.      Of  a  Statue  lately  brought  from  Egypt.  284 

Differtatio  de  Geographia  ./Egypti.  28  j 


CON- 


CONTENTS 

OF  THE 

PLATES  contain'd  in  this  Volume. 

i    A    M  A  P  of  Egypt,  and  of  part  of  Arabia  Petraea.  page  i 

i  jl  \  A  plan  of  old  Alexandria,  in  its  prefent  ftate.  z 

3  Plans  of  fome  old  towers  at  Alexandria,  and  a  plan  and  fe&ion  of  one 

of  the  cifterns  under  ground.  3 

4  The  pillar  at  Alexandria,  commonly  calPd  Pompey's  pillar.  8 

5  The  plans  of  fome  catacombs  about  Alexandria  ;  of  a  Caftrum  at  Ni- 

copolis,  and  the  ifle  Latomia,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rofctto  branch  of 
the  Nile.  9 

6  Plans  of  the  ground,  and  ruins  of  Baalbait,  the  old  Bufiris ;  of  Benal- 

haffar,  the  antient  Bubaftus,  and  of  Matarea,  the  old  Heliopolis.  2 1 

7  A  map  of  the  country  about  Cairo.  24 

8  A  view  of  Jebel  Jehufy,  the  fuppofed  fite  of  the  antient  Babylon,  near 

old  Cairo.  A  view  of  the  pyramids  of  Saccara,  Dafhour,  and  Gize  ; 
of  one  fide  of  Hajar  Silcily,  and  of  a  wall  of  Elephantine,  and  feve- 
ral  things  reprefented  relating  to  the  navigation  of  the  Nile,  the  wa- 
tering of  the  country,  etc.  2  y 

9  The  plan  and  elevation  of  Kafr  Kieman,  fuppofed  to  be  a  Roman  Ca- 

ftrum; and  a  plan  of  one  of  the  granaries  at  old  Cairo.  26 

10  A  view  of  the  refervoir  of  the  aquedufi:  at  Cairo,  and  a  plan  of  the 

top  of  it.  27 

1 1  A  plan  of  the  mofque  Amrah,  near  old  Cairo,  and  a  plan  and  upright 

of  a  Sarcophagus  at  Cairo.  28 
1 1  A  plan  and  fe&ion  of  the  Mikias  at  Cairo,  or  the  place  where  they 

meafure  the  height  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile.  29 
1  3  A  plan  and  view  of  the  gate  Nafr  at  Cairo,  and  a  view  of  a  door  in  an 

antient  palace  in  the  city.  3  z 

14  A  plan  and  views  of  the  buildings  commmonly  call'd  Jofeph's  hall. 

1 5  A  view  of  what  is  call'd  Jofeph's  well,  in  the  caftle  of  Cairo,  with 

plans  and  fe&ions  of  it.  3  4 

16  Plans  of  the  pyramids  of  Gize,  near  Cairo,  and  apian  and  fefiion  of 

the  gallery  in  the  great  pyramid.  A  view  of  a  fmall  pyramid,  and 
the  manner  of  filling  up  the  ftep  in  the  fccond  pyramid.  41 

17  A  fiction  of  the  great  pyramid  at  Gize,  and  a  view  of  the  head  of 

the  Sphinx.  4^ 

1 8  Plans  of  the  pyramids  of  Saccara  and  Dafhour.  49 

19  A  view  of  two  pyramids;  that  call'd  the  pyramid  with  fteps,  and  ano- 

ther call'd  Muftabait-el-Pharaone;  and  plans  of  the  catacombs  for 
human  bodies,  and  for  birds.  54 

xo  Views 


Contents  of  the  PLATES. 

10  Views  of  the  pyramids  of  Dafhour,  and  of  what  is  call'd  the  falfe  py- 
ramid towards  upper  Egypt.  page  jz 

n  A  mummy  brought  from  Egypt,  and  a  fort  of  vafe  frequently  found  in 
the  catacombs. 

22  Plans  and  views  of  the  pyramid  of  Baiamut.    Views  of  the  obelifk 

Bifigc,  of  the  feveral  fides  of  the  temple  of  the  Labyrinth,  and  of 
the  lake  Mceris.  j7 

23  Plans  of  the  temple,  and  other  buildings  of  the  Labyrinth.  61 

2  4  Plans  and  uprights  of  a  gate  of  Antinoopolis,  and  of  a  portico  of  a 

temple  at  Archemounain.  73 
15  A  plan  and  upright  of  the  temple  of  Gaua,  and  a  view  of  fome  grot- 
tos near  Hajar  Silcily.  76 

26  Plans  of  four  temples  at  Amara,  the  old  Tentyra.  8<$ 

27  A  plan  and  upright  of  a  temple  at  Cous.    Plans  of  a  temple  and 

bridge  at  Kepht,  and  of  a  temple  and  gate  of  Thebes,  eaft  of  Car- 
nack,  and  an  upright  of  the  gate.  8  8 

28  A  plan  and  fedion  of  the  great  temple  of  Jupiter  at  Carnack,  being 

the  eaftern  part  of  Thebes,  call'd  Diofpolis,  and  a  view  of  fome 
of  the  gates.  02 

29  A  view  of  Thebes,  on  the  weft  fide  ;  of  the  ftatues  of  Memnon,  and 

the  Memnonium.  o5 

30  A  view  of  the  fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes.  97 

3  1  Plans  of  the  fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes.  9  8 
32  Plans  of  the  fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes.  pej 
34  Plans  of  two  fubterraneous  grottos  at  Thebes,  probably  belonging  to 

the  palaces  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes.  i00 
3  j  Plans  of  two  temples,  and  of  fome  ruins  at  Thebes,  on  the  weft.  1  o  r 

36  The  ftatue  of  Memnon  at  Thebes.  102 

37  The  back  part  of  the  ftatue  of  Memmon.  103 

38  Infcriptions  on  the  right  leg  of  Memnon.  I04 

39  Infcriptions  on  the  left  leg  of  Memnon.  ioy 

40  A  plan  of  the  temple  and  fepulchre  of  Ofymanduas  at  Luxerein,  or 

Lacfor  of  old  Thebes.  106 

41  The  upper  part  of  a  ftatue  of  Ofymanduas  at  Thebes.  107 

42  Hieroglypbical  reprefentations  in  the  Maufoleum  of  Ofymanduas.  108 

43  The  front  of  the  fepulchre  of  Ofymanduas  at  Thebes.  109 

44  Plans  of  two  temples  at  Erment.  no 

45  Plans  of  temples  near  Efne,  and  an  elevation  of  them.  11 1 

46  A  plan  of  the  temple  at  Etfou,  and  an  elevation  of  the  great  gateway 

to  it.  112 

47  A  view  and  plan  of  Hajar  Silcily.  114 

48  A  plan,  view,  and  fedlion  of  the  obfervatory  at  Syene.     A  view  of  a 

rock  near,  and  a  plan  of  a  temple  at  Elephantine.  116 

49  A  plan  of  the  ifle  and  temple  of  Phila;.  120 

50  Views  of  temples  at  Ombus,  and  Phils,  and  of  rocks  of  granite,  op- 

poGte  to  Phila;.  1 2 1 

5  1  A  view  of  the  convents  of  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Paul,  in  the  defert. 

128 

j  1  Views  of  Mount  Sinai  and  Horeb.  144 

d  j  3  Places 


3 


Contents  of  the  PLATES. 

5  3  Places  about  Mount  Sinai ;  a  plan  of  the  top  of  it,  and  views  of  the 


ftone  of  Rephidim. 

54  Infcriptions  on  the  rocks  about  mount  Sinai.  148 

5  }  Infcriptions  on  the  rocks  about  mount  Sinai ;  and  the  epigram  on  the 

bafe  of  Memnon. 

56  A  plan  of  the  convent  and  church  of  mount  Sinai.  ij0 

57  Egyptian  utenfils.  igtf 

58  Egyptian  garments,  litter,  &c.  187 
j  9  Drefles  particular  to  Egypt.  xyz 

60  A  ftatue  of  Ifis,  brought  from  Egypt.  210 

61  Another  view  of  the  ftatue  of  lfis.  211 
61  A  ftatue  of  Ofiris,  brought  from  Egypt.  212 

63  Another  view  of  the  fame  ftatue.  213 

64  Antient  ftatues  and  heads  brought  from  Egypt.  214 
<5y  A  ftatue  of  Harpocrates  and  Egyptian  feals.  2iy 

66  Egyptian  pillars.  216 

67  Egyptian  columns.  217 

68  Egyptian  capitals.  218 

69  Egyptian  cornices,  and  entablatures.  219 

70  Views  of  the  embalmed  birds  of  Egypt,  and  of  fome  fifh  of  the  Nile. 

233 

7 1  A  plan  of  a  Coptic  church  and  convent,  of  the  ovens  to  hatch  chickens, 

and  of  the  furnaces  for  making  Sal  Armoniac.  246 

72  The  palm  of  the  Thebais.  280 

73  The  palm  of  the  Thebais.  281 

74  Egyptian  plants.  282 

75  Plants  of  Egypt.  283 


Re  f  e- 


References  to  the  Plan  of  Alexandria. 


Plate  II; 

ALEXANDRIA.    Old  Alexandria. 
ALEXANDRIA.     New  Alexandria. 


A.  TTHE  Me  Pharos. 

B.  J|     The  promontory  Lochias. 

C.  Port  Eunoftus,  now  call'd  The 

old  Port. 

D.  The  great  Port,  now  call'd  The 

the  new  Port. 

E.  The  Pharos,  now  a  caftle. 

F.  The  cape  of  figs. 

G.  The  entrance  for  fmall  boats. 

H.  The  entrance  for  fhips. 

I.  Heptaftadium. 
n.  Necropolis. 

K,  K.  Lines  fuppofcd  to  be  the  old 

bounds  of  the  fea. 
L.  The  old  caufeway. 
M.  Suppofed  antient  gate,  in  the  way 

to  Canopus. 
N.  Great  tower  to  the  eaft,  mark'd 

A.  in  the  third  plate. 

O.   Great  tower  to  the  weft,  mark'd 

B.  in  the  fame  plate. 
P.    The  palace  of  the  Kings. 

The  round  tower. 
R.  Suppofed  fide  of  the  ifle  Antir- 

rhodes. 
S.  Neptunium. 
T.  Ca;farium. 
V.  The  antient  docks. 
W.  Port  Cibotus. 
X.  Hill  Panium. 
Y.  Gymnafium. 
Z.  Forum. 

a.  Gate  of  Necropolis. 

b.  Mofque  of  1001  pillars. 

c.  Mofque  of  St.  Athanafius. 

d.  Copti  convent. 

e.  Greek  convent. 

f.  Jews  fynagogue. 

4 


g.  Ciftern  on  three  arches. 

h.  Porters  hill. 

i.  The  theatre. 

k.    Sheiks  burial  places. 

1.  Gardens. 

m.  The  old  burial-place  of  the  Kings. 
p.    The  Jews  burial-place, 
n.    The  inner  palaces, 
o.  Mufeum. 

£.    Chriftian  burial-place. 

■j.   Road  to  Nicopolis. 

p.   The  French  houfe. 

q.    The  Englifh  houfe. 

r.   The  quay  and  cuftom-houfe. 

s.    The  old  gate. 

t.   The  bagnio  gate. 

u.  The  bagnio. 

v.   The  Latin  convent. 

x.  Serapium. 

y.    Pompey's  pillars. 

z.  Catacombs. 

n.  Mofque  of  a  Sheik. 

r.   Weft  gate. 

*.   The  caftle. 

Gate  of  the  pillar. 
A.   Gate  of  Rofetto. 
0.  Wells  down  to  canals. 
A.    Lake  Mareotis. 

2.  Canal  of  Canopus. 

Q.  The  enclofed  port  of  the  Kings. 

6.  The  place  where  the  canal  enters 

under  the  walls. 

8.  Obelisks. 

9.  Ciftern. 

0.     The  old  French  houfe. 

7.  The  fuppofed  walls  to  the  eaft 

of  the  palace. 

EDI- 


Editions  of  AUTHORS  quoted  in  this  Book. 


HErodotus, 
Strabo,  Caufabon, 
Diodorus  Siculus, 
Paufanias,  Kuhnii, 
Ptolemseus, 


London,  1670. 
Paris  1620. 
Hanovia?  1604. 
Lipfias  \6y6. 
Amftelodami  161%. 


ERRATA. 


Page  Line  far 

4.  5.  north, 

5.  32.  Canopus, 

6.  note  %. 

8.    in  note  d. K 

10.  13.  after  time, 

11.  14.  piles, 
24.  vi. 

11.  Venus,  Arfinoe, 

12.  Sherk, 
Mattalla, 

20.   24.  Theraafc, 

22.  in  notes  zdaL  5 cl>  liney 

27.    17.  by, 

29,  1.  which  is  on  a  le- 
vel with  the  bed 
of  the  Nile, 


17. 
18. 


read 
eaft. 

canal  Canopus. 
at  note  f  p.  9. 

a  ftnucohn. 

wells. 

v. 

Venus  Arfinoe. 

Sheik. 

Mahalla. 

Themaie. 

dele  ■ 

thro'. 

which  probably  is  on  a 
level  with  the  furface 
of  the  Nile,  when 
at  loweft. 


In  mte  e.  Esbiken, 

Esbikiere. 

3°- 

17.  having  taken, 

I  took. 

3'- 

6.  every  one, 

many. 

3«- 

34.  Keyck, 

Keyd. 

+  !• 

12.  wood, 

trees. 

47- 

33.  them  O.  In  the, 

them  in  the. 

49- 

24.  the, 

thefe. 

,6. 

47.  continuing, 

confining. 

59- 

44.  thefe, 

Archomounain. 

there. 

tf8. 

Archemounain. 

74- 

39.  who, 
Chap.  III. 

that. 

81. 

Chap.  II.  Sett.  II 

82. 

16.  city,  this, 

city.  This. 

U. 

23.  Carrack, 
10.  rock,  chryftal, 
Coptos, 

Carnack. 

89. 
87- 

rock  cryftal. 

Coptus 

94- 

note  x. 

at  obelisks  e. 

95- 

38- 

96. 

30.  offers, 

offering 

97- 

35.  N.  in  the  thirty-firft, 

x.  in  the  thirty-fecond. 

99- 

28.  a  hole, 
24.  plinth, 

holes. 

101. 

bafe. 

?agc 
102. 
104. 
106. 

108. 
in. 

11;. 
124. 
125. 
132. 

i3«. 

140. 
141. 
142. 
148. 
ijl. 
■  83. 
t87. 

I()2. 

197. 
20  J. 
202. 
204. 
205. 


Line  far 

2.  fifth, 

19.  temple, 
26.  this, 
41.  kawks, 
23.  Serifs, 

Ombos, 
28.  pefent, 
43  ones  appear, 

3.  beafts, 
28.  their, 

10.  Hamromyos, 
41.  Sarraccna;, 
23.  north, 

8-  dele  only. 
22.  four, 

11.  chapter, 
5°-  n 

22.  Bifimillah, 
in  plate  58.  Kouptick, 
37.  Decency.  Women. 
9.  of  the, 
17.  high, 
17.  Bulfi, 
21.  about  July, 

19.  inftead, 
28.  fruit, 

49.  the  freeze,  and 
cornice,  and 
the  (tone,  laid. 

20.  was  of  the  firft, 
49.  printing, 

1.  mark, 

34.  dele,  fide. 
3.  dele,  and  is  very  near 
47.  Friday,  in  their 
fafting  feafon,', 


294.     4.  Hamrofle, 


nad 
fixth. 

Maufoleum. 

the. 

hawks. 

Sherifs. 

Ombus. 

prefent. 

one  appears. 

animals. 

there. 

Hamroue. 

Sarracene. 

fomh. 

four  Medines. 

book. 

*; 

Bilmillah. 
Kouphick. 
,   Dancing  women, 
among  the. 
high  as  they  fate!. 
Bulti. 

about  March, 
inftead  of. 

fig. 

freeze  and  cornice,  and 
the  ftone  laid. 

was  the  firft, 

painting. 

maik. 

the  perpendicular. 
Friday,  and  every  day 
during  fbme  falling 
feafons,  and 
Hamroue. 


A  DE- 


Its  length. 


Alexandria. 


Ifle  Pharos. 

Ports  of 
Alexandria. 


OBSERVATIONS 

Egypt  was  antiently  divided  into  Provinces  called  Nomi being  cer- 
tain diftri&s,  with  their  capital  cities ;  foraething  like  the  prefent  divi- 
fion  of  the  country  under  the  government  of  Beys. 

According  to  Herodotus,  'twas  one  hundred  eighty-feven  miles  and  a 
half  from  the  fea  to  Heliopolis,  fix  hundred  and  five  from  thence  to 
Thebes,  and  one  hundred  and  two  miles  and  a  half  from  Thebes  to  Elephan- 
tine ;  fo  that  the  whole  length  of  Egypt  was  eight  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  miles,  according  to  this  computation ;  which  muft  have  been  made 
by  the  windings  of  the  river,  for  Egypt  being  eight  degrees  in  length, 
computing  feventy  miles  to  a  degree,  'tis  only  five  hundred  and  fixty 
miles  long. 

When  Alexander  the  Great  return'd  from  confulting  the  Oracle  of  Ju- 
piter Ammon,  being  pleafed  with  the  fituation  of  Rhacotis,  he  order'd  a 
city  to  be  built  there,  which  from  him  was  call'd  Alexandria.  As  the 
honour  of  being  capital  of  the  kingdom  was  tranflated  from  Memphis 
to  this  place,  fo  it  was  not  afterwards  a  part  of  any  province,  but,  with 
a  territory  about  it,  was  a  diftindt  government  by  itfelf.  When  this 
city  was  taken  by  the  Saracens,  according  to  the  Arabian  hifiorians,  there 
were  in  it  four  thoufand  palaces,  as  many  baths,  four  hundred  fquares, 
or  places,  and  forty  thoufand  Jews  that  paid  tribute. 

As  the  fea  has  gain'd  in  fome  parts,  and  loft  in  others,  fo  there  is  great 
difficulty  in  fixing  the  fituation  of  many  antient  places  defcribed  by 
Strabo. 

There  being  a  bay  about  three  leagues  wide,  the  ifle  Pharos b  extending 
from  eaft  to  weft,  near  to  the  Eaftern  promontory  Lochias,  made  the 
ports  of  Alexandria ;  the  port  Eunoftus  being  to  the  Weft,  and  what  they 
call'd  the  great  Port,  to  the  Eaft:  The  latter  is  now  call'd  the  new 
Port,  and  the  other  the  old  Port. 

The  ifland  was  join'd  towards  the  weft  end  '  to  the  continent,  by  a 
caufeway  and  two  bridges  nine  hundred  paces  long,  which  muft  have 
been  about  the  quay  of  the  old  port.  The  fea  has  gain'd  on  the  weft 
end  of  the  ifland,  where  are  feen  under  water  the  remains  of  cifterns 
cut  in  the  rock. 

The  famous  Pharos J,  or  light-houfe,  was  on  a  rock  at  the  eaft  end  of 
the  ifland,  that  was  on  every  fide  encompafs'd  with  water,  and  fo  in  a 
manner  a  fmall  feparate  ifland ' ;  which  feems  to  be  the  fpot  on  which 
the  caftle  is  built,  at  the  entrance  of  the  new  Port;  and  the  pillars  feen 
in  a  calm  fea  within  the  entrance,  may  be  the  remains  of  that  fuperb 


fa^i  ....  tt.-j.Kiv  ct'of  vojwo)  TOjUflif  aAAa;  i%°v'  «f 
TG7raf£i'«J  o'i  7rAoro(    JjiJgfJVTOj  )i,    aural  £'  £<f  «AA«f 
TO/Aa'f.   £A«^if«l  $  di  «fsu£«i  jUSfi'&r.     Strab.  Xvil. 

p.  787. 

^tto^oj,  AijUSVflS  wft>?  dvrriv  7rai5v  xyjpi^oy.ov.  Him  yotfi 
efj  JtoAjrwJijj,  d)t£#f  eig  to  jrsAssj'©-  TrgofiiQhyfAiVK  Sua' 
7XTwv  SI  [Atrcc^v  tj   vj[<roi  "S^vrat  v.Ketvffa.  tov  xoAttov, 

t^j  3>«^a  to  y.iv &v  scoov  jW*AAe'v  tn  irgocre^f  rif  c'jra^w, 
>q  Tij"  h«t'  «'ut)]V  K«AeiT«i  J'  'AjcgoAo^w,  k, 

9roiei  rov  Kipiya  a^TiropoV  Tfo?  S\  tj)  jEco'njTi  ts 
jusnx^i!  tto^h  k,  7Tst^«i  eiVJv,  di  vtfxKoi,  at  £\  k, 
i%t%Xffai,  T^a^uvncroef  ttxitxv  w^oiu  to  sr^  oo-ffiVlou  tx.  tb 
jreAcej'Sff  xKvSuvw  "Efj  S\  %  k'utb  tq  i$f  yijf/f?^  #x£ov 


TTir^ot  no\vx\vf<@y,  tutrix,  nZ^yav  ^xvyot^Sg  xx-rttr- 

Strab.  xvii.  p.  791. 

c  To'  St  ^y.»  i$w  oltro  t£f  Eirtigou  yityvgu  itr)  Ttjv 

itctTFtov;  <Tj«A«7r«ira  y-ovcv  etf  tov  'EukjVh  A;jW£voi,  ^ 

«utovV  yeytpugaphx;.  Strab.  xvii,  p.  792- 

d  Pharos  eft  in  infula  turris,  magna  altitudine, 
mirificis  operibus  extruifta,  qure  nomen  ab  infula 
accepit.  Hasc  infula  objefta  Alexandrite  portum 
efficit:  Sed  a  fuperioribus  regionibusin  longitudi- 
nem  pafluum  dcccc  in  mare  jaftis  molibus  an- 
gufto  itinere,  et  ponte,  cum  oppido  conjungitur. 
Cafar  ds  Bello  Civitt\  Lib.  iii. 
c  See  b. 


building. 


ONEGYPT.  .3 

building :  Thefe  pillars  I  faw  when  I  went  out  in  a  boat  on  a  calm 
day,  and  could  fee  to  the  bottom.  My  obferving  fo  nicely,  and  fo  near 
the  caftle,  was  much  taken  notice  of ;  and,  as  I  was  inform'd,  feveral 
foldiers,  who  were  that  day  on  guard  in  the  caftle,  were  punifh'd  for  per- 
mitting me  to  examine  the  port  fo  cxaftly. 

The  fea  has  gain'd  much  on  the  ifle  of  Pharos  every  way,  except  to 
the  fouth;  the  weftern  part  of  the  old  ifiand  is  now  called  the  Cape 
of  the  Figs ;  becaufe  it  is  famous  for  producing  very  early  and  excellent 
Figs. 

The  fea  having  loft  to  the  north,  and  alfo  to  the  weft,  on  the  fide  of 
the  antient  caufeway  to  the  ifland,  is  the  reafon  why  the  eaftern  port  at 
prefent  is  the  lefs.  There  are  two  entrances  to  both  ports,  one  near  each 
cape  of  the  continent  ;  that  to  the  eaftern  Port  is  only  for  fmall  boats, 
whereas  in  the  weftern  port,  it  is  the  fafer  entrance  for  the  largeft  mips,- 
and  in  the  other  port,  the  entrance  by  the  caftle  is  very  narrow  and  dan- 
gerous, by  reafon  of  the  rocks,  as  defcribed  by  the  Antients  °. 

It  is  faid  that  Alexandria  was  warned  on  two  fides  by  the  water,  to  the 
north  by  the  fea,  and  to  the  fouth  by  the  lake  Marcotis;  and  that  the 
other  two  fides  were  each  a  kind  of  Ifthmus f,  or  neck  of  land  between 
the  water,  about  feven  ftadia  in  length ;  on  which  account  each  of  thefe 
fides,  efpecially  that  to  the  weft,  was  called  Heptaftadium,  from  which 
the  caufeway  to  the  ifland  is  faid  to  have  gone  ;  which  is  a  confirmation 
of  what  I  fuppofe  in  the  plan  of  Alexandria,  that  the  Heptaftadium  be- 
gan at  the  angle  that  is  made  near  the  weft  gate,  at  the  fouth  eaft  cor- 
ner of  the  old  port. 

The  firft  thing  I  did  at  Alexandria  was  to  pace  round  the  walls,  and  The  walls, 
take  the  bearings ;  which  I  did  with  fo  much  caution,  that  I  thought 
I  could  only  have  been  obferved  by  the  Janizary  that  attended  me;  not- 
withstanding it  was  foon  publickly  reported  about  the  town,  that  I  had 
meafured  the  city  walls  by  palms.  The  old  walls  of  the  city  feem  to 
have  been  built  on  the  height,  which  extends  from  Cape  Lochias  to- 
wards the  eaft,  the  remains  of  a  grand  gateway  being  to  be  feen  in 
the  road  to  Rofetto  at  this  high  ground ;  and  the  foundations  of  the 
walls  may  from  thence  be  traced  to  the  canal.  The  outer  walls  round 
the  old  city  are  very  beautifully  built  of  hewn  ftone,  and  feem  to  be 
antient  ;  all  the  arches  being  true,  and  the  workmanfhip  very  good : 
They  are  defended  by  femicircular  towers,  twenty  feet  diameter,  and  a- 
bout  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  apart;  at  each  of  them  are  ftairs  to 
afcend  up  to  the  battlements,  there  being  a  walk  round  on  the  top  of  the 
walls  built  on  arches.  Thefe  walls,  as  they  now  ftand,  feem  to  have  en- 
clofed  all  the  city,  except  the  palace  of  the  Kings  to  the  north  eaft ;  and 
'tis  not  improbable  that  the  enclofure  of  the  palace  extended  to  the 
weft,  from  the  fouth  eaft  corner  to  the  prefent  walls,  near  the  gate  of 
Rofetto,  as  mark'd  in  the  plan,  and  that  the  foundations  of  the  walls, 
feen  all  the  way  to  the  canal,  were  only  a  defence  to  the  fuburbs.  The 
inner  walls  of  the  old  city,  which  feem  to  be  of  the  middle  ages,  are 
much  ftronger  and  higher  than  the  others,  and  defended  by  large  high 

e  See  b.  T^iaxOVTrt  suSim  e^ovxa  <Ji*,U£T£0v'  T«  &  £7rl  TA»T@*  Oi' 

hluf  8  T«  jwS£V  sVJ  jUti'xBff  jrAEUDa  i>i  t*  a'ppi'xAu? «,  oVov    v'jro  ^«?i«T7>jf,  if  J'  vm  7^f  Ai'^Mf.  Straboxvii.  p.793. 

towers8, 


2 


4    .  OBSERVATIONS 

towers1.  There  are  particularly  two  very  large  well-built  towers  to  the 
north- weft,  towards  the  new  city  on  the  ftrand:  I  have  given  plans  of 
them  in  the  third  plate,  as  I  roughly  fketch'd  them  out,  in  order  to  give 
a  better  idea  of  them  than  can  be  convey 'd  by  words.  That  which  is  to 
the  north,  mark'd  A.  was  the  old  cuftom-houfe,  and  now  belongs  to  the 
Aga ;  the  plan  is  of  the  middle  floor. 

The  other  is  put  to  no  ufe,  has  three  floors,  and  cifterns  under ;  the 
upper  floor  confifts  of  a  room  in  the  middle  about  three  and  twenty  feet 
fquare,  with  a  gallery  round,  and  three  rooms  at  the  weft  end;  the 
ground  ftory  is  much  the  fame,  except  that  it  has  two  rooms  and  a  ftair- 
cafe  to  the  eaft.  The  plan  B.  is  of  the  middle  ftory.  Thefe  towers  feem 
to  have  been  built  at  the  time  the  inner  walls  were  made,  and  might  be 
defign'd  to  hinder  any  defcent  on  this  part,  where  probably  the  quay  was 
in  the  middle  ages;  and  the  grand  entrance  from  it  might  be  between 
thefe  towers.  What  was  without  thefe  walls,  and  the  fite  of  the  pa- 
lace, was  probably  the  fuburbs  of  the  city,  which  I  fuppofe  in  procefs  of 
time  to  have  been  wall'd  in,  extending  down  to  the  canal ;  and  this 
fuburbs,  fo  wall'd  in,  began  to  be  look'd  on  as  a  part  of  the  city  itfelf, 
and  feems  to  have  been  efteem'd  fo  by  thofe  authors  who  give  an  account 
of  the  city  as  three  miles  and  three  quarters  long,  and  a  mile  broad,  and 
fpeak  of  it  as  bounded  by  the  lake  Mareotis,  taking  in  the  fuburbs  on 
both  fides  of  the  canal  of  Canopus,  if  there  were  any  to  the  eaft,  or 
in  cafe  there  were  none,  as  the  canal  run  clofe  along  by  the  fide  of  the 
lake,  they  might  not  improperly  fay  that  the  city  extended  to  the  lake 
Mareotis. 

Palace  of  the     The  palace,  with  the  fuburbs  belonging  to  it,  was  a  fourth  part  of  the 
K'°ss'       city  ;  within  its  diftrifi:  was  the  Mufeum  h,  or  Academy,  and  the  burial 
Alexander's  place  1  of  the  Kings,  where  the  body  of  Alexander  was  depofited  in  a 
tomb-       coffin  of  gold  k,  which  being  taken  away,  it  was  put  into  one  of  glafs  ;  in 
which  condition,  it  is  probable,  Auguftus  took  a  view  of  the  corpfe  of 
that  great  hero,  and  with  the  utmoft  veneration  fcatter'd  flowers  over 
it,  and  adorn'd  it  with  a  golden  crown '.    As  the  Mahometans  have  a 
great  regard  for  the  memory  of  Alexander,  fo  there  have  been  travellers, 
who  relate,  that  they  pretended  to  have  his  body  in  fome  mofque;  but  at 
prefent  they  have  no  account  of  it. 

When  Alexandria  was  no  longer  the  refidence  of  Kings,  it  is  very  na- 
tural to  think  that  their  palace  in  time  fell  to  ruin,  and  that  the  mate- 
rials of  it  were  removed  to  the  part  of  the  city  that  was  inhabited,  and 
probably  alfo  to  build  the  inner  walls ;  tho'  along  by  the  fea  there  are 
ftill  great  remains,  and  on  the  fhoar  are  feen  feveral  pieces  of  porphyry, 
and  other  fine  marbles,  where  the  antient  palace  flood  ;  but  as  to  the 
buildings  on  the  fea,  near  the  obelifks,  and  the  fine  round  tower  D.  at  the 
north  weft  corner,  which  has  two  ftories,  and  a  fine  arch  in  the  middle, 
fupported  by  a  pillar,  they  feem  to  be  all  buildings  of  the  time  when  the 
inner  walls  were  made,  at  leaft  not  to  be  fo  old  as  the  time  of  the 

B  A  plan  of  one  of  them  is  marked  C.  in  the  o  m^oK^r  h,  h  w  al  rm  fcaethtw  rotQal,  ii,  »  AAf£- 

third  Plate.  «V^a.  Strabo,  1.  xvii.  p.  724.       k  Strabo,  ibid. 

h  Tm      fiaaihetwv  fit^  Is"!  0,  to  Mmrafl'*,  t^ov  1  Conditorium  et  corpus  magni  Alexandri,  cum 

STEfiV«Tow  k,  i&fyuv  k,  oIko*  piy&Y.  Strabo,  1.  xvii.  prolatum  e  penetrali   fubjecifiet  oculis,  corona 

p.  793-  aurea  impofita,  ac  floribus  afperfis,  veneratus  eft. 

?  Mig©-  0£         fiucihju*  If)  tij  TO  Kfli^USVOV  Zw/Xflf,      SliStOil.  OfftlVittS,  C  I  8. 

Ptolemies 


ON    EGYPT.  3 

Ptolemies  or  Cleopatra.  In  the  round  tower  is  a  well,  now  fpoiled  ;  and 
they  fay  there  are  wells  alfo  in  fome  of  the  other  towers.  A  plan  of  the 
round  tower  is  to  be  feen  in  plate  III. 

Under  thefe  palaces  was  the  private  enclofed  port  of  the  Kings ",  which  Po"  of  the 
might  be  oppofite  to  the  great  round  tower  at  the  fea,  where  ihips  now  M°s"' 
fometimes  come  to  anchor,  and  where  the  Turks,  till  within  this  fifty 
years,  obliged  all  foreign  fhips  to  ride,  not  fuffering  them  to  anchor  un- 
der the  caftle,  as  they  do  at  prefent.    In  this  part  alfo  was  the  °  ifle  An-  Amirrhodes. 
tirrhodes,  in  which  was  a  palace,  and  a  fmall  harbour  or  bay.    This  ifland 
feems  to  have  been  entirely  deftroy'd  by  the  fea,  and  probably  was  op^ 
pofite  to  the  obelifks ;  where  there  are  ftill  feen  great  ruins  in  the  fea,  and 
where  they  often  raife  up  very  fine  p  pillars.    Over  thefe  places  a  theatre  is 
mention'd ;  and  afterwards  the  part  of  the  city  which  had  its  name  from  Neptunium. 
Neptune,  where  there  was  a  temple  to  him:  This -feems  to  have  been  about 
the  corner  of  the  bay In  this  diftricl  alfo  Antony  built  his  Timonium  ;  to  Timonium. 
which  he  retired  in  difguft  after  his  misfortunes.    Next  to  it  the  Cadarium  Cterarium. 
is  mention'd,  where  the  temple  of  Cjefar  is  fuppofed  to  have  been  ,-  in 
which,  according   to  Pliny,  fome  obelifks  were  erected.      Further  on 
was  the  Emporium,  or  market-place.    Then  follow'd  the  docks  for  their  Ma*et- 
fhipping ;  over  which  was  the  ancient  city  Rhacotis,  with  a  fort  of  fuburbs  j!ahce' 
round  it  call'd  Bucolis,  becaufe  it  was  chiefly  inhabited  by  herdfmen.         Baeota ' 

There  was  a  communication  between  the  ports  by  two  bridges  at  the  Caufeway, 
caufeway  to  the  '  ifland,  that  began  at  the  north  weft  corner  of  the  town ;  ™d^rjfe 
at  the  Heptaftadium  to  the  weft  !,  which  was  one  of  the  necks  of  land 
made  by  the  fea  and  the  lake.  Here  it  is  probable  the  fea  has  gain'd  to 
the  eaft  of  the  old  port,  as  I  have  mark'd  in  the  plan,  where  it  now  wafhes 
the  walls  from  the  great  corner  tower;  at  which  the  walls  make  an  el- 
bow to  the  north  weft;  for  'tis  evident  it  has  gain'd  on  the  fhoar,  farther 
on,  where  many  grottos  appear  half  wafh'd  away  by  the  fea. 

Within  this  weftern  port,  antiently  call'd  Eunoftus,  and  now  the  old  Weflem 
port,  was  the  port  Cibotus,  from  which  there  was  a  navigable  canal  to  port' 
the  lake1,-  and  there  is  now  a  canal  or  foffee  along  by  the  walls  from  the  Canopus. 
canal  of  Canopus  to  the  fea,  by  which  the  water  runs  into  the  fea  from 
the  great  canal,  at  the  overflow  of  the  Nile.    When  any  fhips  that  do 
not  belong  to  the  Turks,  by  ftrefs  of  weather  are  obliged  to  go  into  the 
old  port,  they  muft  remove  into  the  other,  as  foon  as  they  have  an  op- 
portunity; which  is  the  harbour  allotted  for  the  fhips  of  Chriftendom. 

"TjsVoif  fvmtutrtti  o,  ts  xoi>7rjof  A<^v,      ia«5-oV  15  This  account  is  very  different  from  what  is 

i2i&  jm  fiuiribiuv,  kj  »j  AuTi)'poi?@.  vtjsiov  Br^wpwov  given  by  fome  travellers,  who  fuppofe  the  Ne- 

t2  o^nxi  ai/^*©-,  /-Wahcv  af*a  «,  Ai^smu  l^ov — .  ptunium  was  where  I  place  Cape  Lochias,  and 

'Tff'fKHTeti  tie  Ts'rtf  to  &ea-r§ov'  ht«  to  noo-a'<?iov,  dyxuv  that  what  is  now  without  the  port,  was  formerly 

t)o  ajro  t£  ypn^H  jcoiAy^tva  jrqomnluxw,  e£«v  j'e^ov  within  it ;  but  any  one,  who  considers  the  fitua- 

WatreiSunf  <u  n^a&w         AvTo/vi©.  tn  juaAAov  ?rfo-  tion  of  the  feveral  parts  with  Strabo's  account, 

nvav  «*f  pitov  toV  A///ev«  EjrJ  tw  aVfoi  xaTsc-HEv'cic-e  may  judge  which  is  moll  probable. 

Sixnxv  $<xu*Ktw<j>  %v  Ti^w'woy  Trfoftiyogwrt.   Strabo  '  See  note  c.  for  this  and  the  following  places. 

1.  xvii.  p.  794.      ^  s  See  note  f.    It  appears  alfo  by  what  follows 

°  See  note  n.  with  regard  to  this  ifle,  and  the  in  Strabo,  that  there  was  an  aquedua  to  the  ifland 

Timonium,  &c.  over  this  caufeway  and  the  bridges. 

f  When  Strabo  mentions  that  Antirrhodes  lies  •  'E|«  rE™«  A,f<w  mrx  to  hWi/m-  l  <Sme 


before     of  mrS  A.pfi©-,  he  feems  to  need  emen-    tsts  o>«toV,  S>  i.  Ki/3™  xxtfm,  sVm  iL  a'uTo't 
'Mion,  and  it  — 
rt  being  in  t 
ftus. 

VOL.  I. 


dation,  and  it  ought  to  be  ts  h»*M  ;  the  latter  »s»'f,oi.  e.Jot^ »  Si  tsts  S,ip$  rt»T,'  tfr  A,'u»,s. 
noftus  l"S  m  ^  ^      °ther P°rt  EU"   '"r°1^"'  **  M'«^"«'■',®'•  Strab°  1-  xvii-  P-  795- 


In 


) 


6  OBSERVATIONS 

Panium.  In  the  city  a  hill  is  mention'd  call'd  Panium,  which,  from  the  defcrip- 
tion  of  it,  feems  to  be  the  high  hill  within  the  walls  near  the  weft 
gate  and  the  old  "  port. 

The  great       The  ftreet  which  extended  the  whole  length  of  the  city,  from  the  gate 

ftreet'  of  Necropolis  to  the  gate  of  Canopus,  is  faid  to  have  been  one  hundred 
feet  wide  *,  and,  doubtlefs,  had  in  it  many  magnificent  buildings,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  granite  pillars  (till  remaining  in  two  or  three  parts.  Among 

Gymnaimm.  them  was  the  Gymnafium1,  or  publick  fchools,  to  which  there  were  Por- 
ticos in  extent  above  half  a  quarter  of  a  mile;  it  might  be  where  there 
are  great  ruins  to  the  weft  of  that  ftreet,  and  feveral  large  red  granite 

Forum.  pillars  ftanding.  The  Forum,  or  court  of  judicature,  was  alfo  probably 
another  building  in  this  magnificent  ftreet,  and  might  be  where  fome  pil- 

GateofNe-  Jars  remain  nearer  the  fea.    The  gate  of  Necropolis  I  fuppofe  to  be  the 

cropohs.  to  ^e  foutn  weft)  which  is  now  built  up:  This  gate  has  fome  orna- 

ments about  it  of  Lions  rampant.  It  is  faid  that  the  two  chief  ftreets  of 
Alexandria  crofted  one  another  at  right  angles;  fo  that  if  the  ftreet,  that 
extended  the  whole  breadth  of  the  city,  began  at  the  old  gate,  it  is  pro- 
bable the  gate  on  the  other  fide  was  oppoiite  to  it,  in  fuch  manner  as  that 
the  ftreet  might  anfwer  this  defcription. 

Among  the  remains  of  Alexandria,  the  moft  extraordinary  are  thofe 

Cifterns.  cifterns  *  which  were  built  under  their  houfes,  fupported  by  two  or  three 
ftories  of  arches  on  columns,  in  order  to  receive  the  Nile  water  by  the 
canal,  as  they  do  at  this  day.  In  the  fame  manner  the  rain  water  is  pre- 
ferved  in  cifterns,  under  the  houfes  at  Jerufalem  ".  This  canal  of  Canopus 
comes  to  the  walls  near  Pompey's  pillar,  having  run  to  the  weft  of  it :  It 
has  a  paflage  under  the  walls,  and  from  that  part  a  foffee  has  been  cut 
along  the  outfide  of  the  walls  to  the  fea ;  but  the  water  is  not  only 
convey 'd  to  the  cifterns  from  the  canal,  as  it  there  enters  the  city,  but  alfo 
before,  from  feveral  parts  of  the  canal,  by  paflages  under  ground  to  the 
higher  parts  of  the  city.  There  are  entrances  down  to  thefe  paflages  in 
feveral  parts,  in  order  to  clean  them:  The  cifterns  alfo  muft  be  cleanfed; 
and  the  defcent  down  to  them  is  by  round  wells,  in  which  there  are  holes 
on  each  fide,  at  about  two  feet  diftance,  to  put  the  feet  in  to  defcend 
by  :  They  draw  up  the  water  by  a  windlafs,  and  carry  it  in  leather  bags 
on  camels  to  the  houfes.  Before  the  Nile  fills  them  again,  the  water  in 
many  of  them  is  not  good ;  owing,  it  may  be,  to  their  not  keeping  them 
clean ;  for  in  fome,  and  particularly  that  which  belongs  to  the  Latin  con- 
vent, the  water  is  obferved  to  be  always  good. 

The  old  city.  The  old  city  is  entirely  ruin'd,  and  the  materials  carried  away  to  build 
the  new.    Excepting  a  very  few  houfes  at  the  Rofetto,  and  bagnio  gates, 

u  "Eft  <Te     n«veiov,  eIJ*@*  t!  p/et^D7ro'niT0v,  ^o/3iM-    [tr,*®1  srA«Trt«  JiaTflm  srosga  to  yvpvafiov  fiZffll  -rr,s 
«JWi  o;^8o>  stet^oj'oei,  Sia  xo^Ai'k  ri-k  «Wf3«G-iv    E<ruA)jf  T?f  >c«voj/3*>t?f.  Strabo  J.  xvii.  p.  795. 

s^or"  «Vo  Si  T>jr  xojvtpi^f  eViv  t*Vi«Vv  oAyu  Tfi'v  ul^ii       1  Thofe  who  may  examine  thefe  Catacombs 

uVcxopsnjv  auTw  aravTa^o'&Ev.     Strabo  J.  xvii.  p.  more  exactly,  may  be  able  to  correct:  the  plan  I 

795.  have  given,  which  I  took  with  all  the  accuracy 

x  'Axoitra  f*)v  o'Jor?  x«T«TeTf(tfTtfj,  IttxkKxtxi;  it,  the  time  and  number  of  people  that  accompanied 

a^«T>;A«Ta;if-  oW)  h  srAaiTUTarouf'  tVi  nKiav  jj  jtAe-  would  admit  of ;  and  notwithstanding  I  am  fen- 

Sgw  ava7rEjr1at*£v«jf'  ui  SySt^a^  sr^of  afid;  TittMftv  fible  there  may  be  fome  miltakes. 
dh*Khas.    Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  793.    According  to       3  In  the  third  plate  E.  is  the  plan  of  one  cf 

Suidas  to  T/USfov  was  the  fixth  part  of  a  Stadium  thefe  citterns.    At  H.  is  the  well  by  which  they 

or  furlong,  that  is  one  hundred  feet.  defcend,  and  over  G.  is  the  hole  by  which  they 

y  K«'aai?ov  <Je  to  j-u^vosViot,  juo'^j  j?  s-aoWoir  e^oy  draw  up  the  water,    F.  is  the  fection  of  one  of 

-rati  yo«f  ev  i4eVoj  ....  \\7r0  SI  tijs  NE)cg07roA6wf  sj  tjrl  To  the  cifterns, 

there 


ONEGYPT.  7 

there  are  only  fome  few  mofques,  and  three  convents  within  the  old 
walls. 

One  of  the  mofques  is  calFd  the  Mofque  of  a  thoufand  and  one  pil-  Mofques. 
lars ;  it  is  to  the  weft,  near  the  gate  of  Necropolis.  I  obferved  in  it  four 
rows  of  pillars  to  the  fouth  and  weft,  and  one  row  on  the  other  fides. 
Here,  they  fay,  was  a  church  dedicated  to  St.  Mark,  and  the  Patriarch  re- 
fided  at  it ;  being  near  the  gate  without  which,  'tis  faid,  the  Evangelift 
was  martyr'd.  The  other  great  mofque  is  that  of  St.  Athanafius ;  where 
there  was,  without  doubt,  a  church  of  that  name. 

At  the  church  of  the  Copti  convent  they  fliew  the  patriarchal  chair b,  Convents, 
and  pretend  alfo  to  have  the  head  of  St.  Mark,  and  fome  even  fay 
that  his  body  is  there;  as  at  the  Greek  convent  they  (hew  fome  things 
which  they  fay  relate  to  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Catherine  in  this  city.  The 
Latins  alfo  have  their  convent  in  the  old  city,  belonging  to  that  of  Jeru- 
falem ;  and  there  are  always  fome  poor  Arabs  encamp'd  about  within 
the  walls,  fo  that  'tis  dangerous  'being  abroad  after  fun-fet,  when  all  the 
company  begin  to  retire. 

At  the  fouth  weft  corner  is  a  large  caftle,  with  a  few  foldiers  in  it, 
no  Europeans  are  admitted  there.  In  the  gates,  efpecially  that  of  Ro- 
fetto,  are  many  fine  pieces  of  granite,  and  all  over  the  city  are  feen  frag- 
ments of  columns  of  beautiful  marble;  all  fo  many  remains  of  the  gran- 
deur and  magnificence  of  the  antient  city. 

The  new  city  is  built  on  the  ftrand  to  the  north,  without  the  walls,  on  New  city, 
the  ground  that  feems  to  have  been  left  by  the  fea,  and  makes  a  very 
mean  appearance ;  taking  up  all  that  fpace  in  the  plan  without  the  walls, 
except  the  ftrand  to  the  eaft,  and  a  great  part  not  built  on  towards  the 
old  port,  as  well  as  the  fpot  of  the  old  ifle  of  •  Pharos.  In  feveral  houfes 
built  round  courts  on  porticos,  they  have  placed  a  great  variety  of  pillars, 
moftly  granite,  which  were  the  ornaments  of  the  antient  city.  The  old 
city  was,  without  doubt,  in  a  fiourifhing  condition,  when  the  trade  of  the 
Eaft  Indies  was  carried  on  that  way  by  the  Venetians  ;  and  the  decay  of 
it  may  be  dated  from  the  time  the  paflage  was  found  out  by  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  when  the  commerce  took  another  channel  ;  but  when  the 
trade  of  coffee  and  other  commodities  began  in  fome  meafure  to  flourifh, 
about  fifty  years  ago,  the  prefent  city  then  began  to  rife  out  of  the 
ruins  of  the  old. 

Of  the  two  obelisks,  one  is  broke,  and  part  of  it  lies  on  the  ground.  Obeiiiks.  . 
It  has  been  found,  by  digging  under  ground,  that  the  bottom  of  the 
obelisks  were  rounded,  and  let  into  a  plinth,  as  the  Egyptians  ufed  to 
place  their  pillars;  as  may  be  feen  in  the  Observations  on  architecture. 
Thefe  obelisks  might  be  before  the  temple  of  Neptune.  If  I  made  no 
miftake  in  taking  the  height  of  that  which  is  ftanding,  by  the  quadrant, 
it  is  fixty-three  feet  high ;  the  piece  of  the  obelisk  that  is  broke,  is  eigh- 
teen feet  long,  and  at  the  bottom  meafured  feven  feet  fquare. 

Higher  up  in  the  city,  over  the  ifle  Antirrhodes,  that  is  probably  in  a  Theatrc- 
line  from  it,  the  theatre  is  mention'd,  which  feems  to  have  been  at  the 
hill  towards  the  gate  of  Rofetto,  call'd  Coum  Dimas ;  which  I  conjecture 
from  the  fhape  of  that  hill,  where  they  were  digging  when  I  was  in 
Alexandria,  in  order  to  carry  away  the  ftones. 

b  Of  this  chair  there  is  a  drawing  in  the  fecond  plate. 

The 


s 


OBSERVATIONS 


Pompey's  The  pillar  commonly  call'd  Pompey's  pillar  is  fituated  on  a  fmall 
plIlar'  height,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  fouth  of  the  walls,  and  may 
be  fuppofed  to  have  been  erefted  after  Strabo's  time,  as  he  makes  no 
mention  of  fuch  an  extraordinary  monument :  It  might  be  fet  up  either 
in  honour  of  Titus,  or  Adrian,  who  were  in  Egypt.  Near  it  are  fome 
fragments  of  granite  pillars,  four  feet  diameter,  and  it  appears  plainly 
from  many  old  foundations,  that  there  has  been  fome  magnificent  build- 
ing there,  in  the  area  of  which,  'tis  probable,  this  pillar  was  eredied  ; 
and  fome  Arabian  hiftorians  (on  what  authority  I  know  not)  call  it  the 
Palace  of  Julius  Ca?farc.  This  famous  pillar  is  of  red  granite:  Befides 
the  foundation,  it  confifts  of  three  ftones;  the  capital,  which  is  judged  to 
be  about  eight  or  nine  feet  deep,  is  of  the  Corinthian  order,  the  leaves 
being  perfectly  plain,  and  not  the  leaft  indented,  and  feem  to  be  the  plain 
laurel  or  bay  leaf.  Some  failors  have  found  means  to  get  to  the  top, 
which  has  a  hole  in  it,  from  which  it  is  judged  that  there  was  a  ftatue 
fixed  on  the  top  of  the  pillar;  the  fhaft  of  the  pillar,  taking  in  the  up- 
per Torus  of  the  bafe,  is  of  one  Hone,  the  remainder  of  the  bafe  and 
pedeftal  of  another,  and  all  is  raifed  on  a  foundation  built  of  feveral 
ftones,  in  the  nature  of  two  plinths,  of  two  teer  of  ftone,  the  lower  fet- 
ting  out  four  inches  beyond  the  upper,  as  that  fets  out  a  foot  beyond 
the  plinth  that  is  over  it.  This  foundation  is  four  feet  nine  inches  high, 
and  the  pedeftal,  and  part  of  the  bafe*,  which  is  of  one  ftone,  are  twelve 
feet  and  a  half  high.  I  found  the  whole  height  by  the  fhadovv  to  be  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  feet,  which  agrees  pretty  nearly  with  the  account 
fome  others  have  given;  fo  that  taking  out  the  above  meafures,  and  half 
a  foot  for  the  upper  Torus,  the  height  of  the  fhaft  is  eighty-eight  feet 
nine  inches,  that  is,  about  ten  diameters  of  the  column ;  for  I  found  the 
diameter  of  it  to  be  about  nine  feet ;  the  die  of  the  pedeftal  is  twelve  feet 
two  inches  fquare,  and  the  plinth  is  two  feet  wider.  I  obferved  the  fwell 
in  the  pillar,  and  that  it  leans  a  little  to  the  fouth  weft.  The  pillar  is 
well  preferved,  except  that  it  has  fcaled  away  a  very  little  to  the  fouth,  and 
more  to  the  north  eaft;  the  face  of  the  foundation  is  reprefented  in  the 
draught  of  the  pillar,  as  it  is  to  the  weft  fouth  weft,  where  fome  of 
the  ftones  have  been  taken  away,  fo  as  to  fhew  the  middle  ftone,  which 
has  been  fo  much  talk'd  of,  as  if  the  pillar  refted  on  that  alone,  whereas 
the  work  remains  all  round,  on  which  the  pillar  is  raifed ;  and  yet  it  is  in- 
deed probable  that  the  main  weight  of  the  pillar  does  reft  on  this  ftone, 
which  on  that  fide  is  about  four  feet  wide,  and  appear'd  to  me  to  be  a 
mixture  of  alabafter  and  flints  of  a  great  variety  of  colours,  and  has 
hieroglyphics  on  it.  When  I  return'd  a  fecond  time  to  Alexandria,  this 
part  was  repair'd  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  the  lower  plinth  is  made  a  feat 
for  people  to  fit  on  ;  and  fo  'tis  no  more  to  be  feen  in  its  antient  ftate. 
There  are  fome  figns  of  a  Greek  infcription  on  the  weft  fide,  which  can 
hardly  be  difcern'd,  unlefs  the  fun  fhines  on  it  t  It  confifts  of  four  lines  ; 
what  letters  I  could  make  any  conjecture  of,  I  have  given  below  d. 

c  The  fourth  plate  contains  a  draught  of  the       d  i.  3 . .  7  OCOTATOI  P.  o.  p.  TA 

pillar,  according  to  the  moll  exact  meafures  I  took  TCC  . .  O  CONIOT.  TONAAEAAA, 

of  the  lower  parts,  and  the  belt  obfervations  I  Ale  MAPPOAIION  TON  AA1 . . 

could  make  on  the  whole.  nocE  APACC  


To 


ONEGYPT.  9 

To  the  weft,  beyond  the  canal  of  Canopus,  and  near  a  Sheik's  burial  Catacombs, 
place,  are  fome  Catacombs ;  they  coniift  of  feveral  apartments  cut  in 
the  rock,  on  each  fide  of  an  open  gallery:  On  both  fides  of  thefe  apart- 
ments are  three  ftories  of  holes,  big  enough  to  depofite  the  bodies  in  *. 
Here  we  may  fuppofe  the  fuburbs  began,  in  which  were  gardens,  fe- 
pulchres,  and  places  to  prepare  the  bodies  for  interment ;  as  the  quarter 
call'd  Necropolis,  or  city  of  the  dead,  was  to  the  weft  of  the  city.  The 
Catacombs  extended  above  a  mile  to  the  weft,  and  there  are  a  great  num- 
ber all  along  by  the  fea  ;  many  of  them  have  been  wafh'd  away  by  the 
water,  which  in  fuch  a  long  trad  of  time  has  gain'd  on  the  freeftone 
rock,  as  appears  by  the  remains  of  them  feen  in  the  fea.  I  was  in  fome 
grottos  cut  out  of  the  rock,  in  long  narrow  galleries  running  parallel  to 
one  another,  and  fome  alfo  crofting  them  at  right  angles.  Thefe  I  con- 
jedured  were  thofe  magazines  in  which  they  embalmed  the  bodies ".  The 
moft  extraordinary  Catacombs  are  towards  the  further  end,  and  may  be 
reckon'd  among  the  fineft  that  have  been  difcover'd;  being  beautiful  rooms 
cut  out  of  a  rock,  and  niches  in  many  or  them,  fo  as  to  depofite  the  bodies 
in,  adorn'd  with  a  fort  of  Doric  pilaftcrs  on  each  fidef.  The  round  room, 
and  that  leading  to  it  are  very  beautiful,  and  fo  are  the  four  rooms 
drawn  in  the  plan  with  niches. 

Near  a  mile  farther  is  a  foflce  between  thirty  and  forty .  paces  broad,  Foffce  to  th- 
which  feems  to  have  been  cut  from  the  lake  Mareotis  to  the  fea.  As  the 
city  is  faid  to  have  extended  a  little  beyond  the  canal  that  came  into  the 
port  Cibotus,  this  cannot  be  that  canal,  becaufe  it  is  not  only  beyond  the 
city,  but  alfo  further  to  the  weft  than  Necropolis.  It  was  thought  hazar- 
dous to  go  fo  far  as  the  foflee,  only  accompanied  with  a  janizary  and 
fcrvant ;  and  it  was  with  fome  art  that  I  led  the  janizary  fo  far :  And  in- 
deed he  began  to  be  weary  of  waiting  on  me.  It  was  certainly  very  hot 
weather  to  go  abroad  all  day,  as  I  often  did,  and  found  the  janizary  full 
employment,  which  is  what  they  are  not  ufed  to  ;  and  not  knowing  their 
cuftoms,  I  defign'd  to  gratify  him  at  my  departure,  whereas  they  like  to 
make  fure  of  fomething,  and  to  have  a  fmall  piece  of  money  every  time 
they  go  out,  fo  he  always  pretended  fome  excufe  not  to  go  with  me :  But 
the  greateft  reafon  of  all  was,  that  I  fuppofe  fome  people  had  talked  to 
him  on  the  part  of  the  governor,  that  J  obferved  every  thing  about  the 
city  in  a  manner  not  ufually  praftifed,  and  might  fay  fome  other  things  to 
deter  him  from  going  any  more  with  me;  for  'tis  ufual  for  the  governor 
to  have  a  certain  fum  paid  for  every  ftranger  that  goes  out  of  the  gate 
with  the  janizaries  of  Alexandria,  whom  they  oblige  to  pay  it,  but  if  they 
go  out  with  the  janizaries  of  Cairo,  the  Governor  has  no  power  over  them 
to  oblige  them  to  pay  ;  fo  I  took  one  of  the  janizaries  of  the  place,  and 
paid  him  the  ufual  Tribute,  and  found  myfelf  at  perfed  liberty  to  do  what 
I  pleafed. 

*  A  plan  of  thefe  Catacombs  A.  and  a  fcftion       u  EEr'  «'  NtxnVoM;,  ii  r!  wftifm,  it  »  tihtl  Tt 
of  them  B.  may  be  feen  in  Plate  V.    It  appears    woaao)  k,  t«$«<  k,  Kttmywyx),  ar^of  t«V  t»^hai 
that  fome  of  them  have  been  plaifter'd  over,  and    Tu;v  vskjwv  inniSaxi.    Strabo  xvii.  p.  795. 
adornM  with  a  fort  of  cornifh  in  ftucco  work.  The  plan  of  them  in  plate  V.  is  marked  C. 

Some  01  them  had  alfo  other  fmaller  cells  within    the  niches,  with  pilafters  on  each  fide,  are  repre- 
them  at  the  end  or  on  one  fide,  which  might  be    fented  at  D. 
for  children. 

Vol.  I.  D  I  had 


IO 


OBSERVATIONS 


Ruins  to  the      J  nad  an  account  from  a  gentleman  who  had  been  about  thirty  Aitfes 
weft  of  Alexandria,  and  about  two  hours  fouth  of  the  tower  of  Arabia, 
in  a  vale  to  the  weft  of  the  lake  Mareotis,  that  he  faw  under  ground  a 
building  fupported  by  thirty-fix  marble  pillars :  This  probably  was  Tapo- 
Tapoffifc,    firis  *,  faid  to  be  at  a  diftance  from  the  fea,  and  this  building  might  be  for 
the  great  folemn  meeting  that  was  held  there;  and  if  fo,  'tis  probable 
the  tower  of  Arabia  is  the  old  Cynofema,  and  the  vale  above-mention'd 
might  be  what  they  call  Baher-Bellomah,  or  the  fea  without  water,  which 
I  fhall  have  occafion  to  mention. 
Lake  Mare-      The  great  lake  Mareotis,  which  was  formerly  navigable,  is  now  gene- 
otls-         rally  dry,  and  has  only  water  in  it  for  fome  time  after  great  rains :  It  is 
probable  the  canals  which  convey 'd  the  water  to  it  from  the  Nile,  have 
been  obftructed,  and  fill'd  in  fuch  a  long  courfe  of  time  before  thofe 
canals  were  made,  or  ii  at  any  time  after  they  were  choak'd  up,  it  might 
have  been  a  plain,  as  it  is  at  prelent  ;  and  Pomponius  Mela,  fpeaking  of 
the  lake  Mceris,  by  which  he  feems  to  mean  this  great  lake,  as  I  obferve 
elfewhere,  fays  that  what  is  now  a  lake,  was  formerly  fields  \ 
Omi  of       .The  canal  of  Canopus,  which  brings  the  water  to  Alexandria,  would 
Canopus.     JJkgwifg  be  flopped  up,  if  they  were  not  fometimes  at  great  expence  in 
cleaning  it,  which  was  done  when  I  was  in  Egypt,  and  the  water  con- 
tinued in  it  two  months  longer  than  it  did  before  it  was  eleanfed.  There 
is  an  opinion  that  this  whole  canal  was  lined  with  brick  ;  and  'tis  cer- 
tain about  Alexandria,  in  fome  parts  the  fides  are  cafed  with  ftone,  tho' 
it  might  be  only  fo  there,  as  a  quay  for  the  conveniency  of  unloading  the 
boats.    This  canal  runs  about  half  a  mile  fouth  of  the  walls  of  the  old 
city,  and  then  turning  to  the  north,  near  Pompey's  pillar,  in  that  courfe 
it  runs  in  under  the  walls  of  the  city,  the  bafon  of  the  old  lake  eominor 
almoft  up  to  the  canal ;  and  about  three  miles  from  the  town,  it  turns 
to  the  weft  from  a  northern  direction. 
Kippodro-       The  racing  place,  call'd  the  Hippodromus  y,  without  the  gate  of  Ca 
mui         nopus,  was  probably  in  the  plain  towards  the  canal,  beyond  the  high 
ground,  where  I  fuppofe  that  gate  was. 

I  made  fome  excurfions  to  the  eaft,  to  fee  what  remains  there  were  of 
antiquity.  In  thefe  expeditions  I  often  met  fome  Arabs  on  horfeback,  who 
would  voluntarily  offer  to  guard  me  to  the  gate  of  the  city,  in  order  to 
get  a  fmall  gratuity;  but  when  I  found  out  their  defign,  and  was  fatisfied 
there  was  no  danger,  I  fignified  to  them  that  they  need  not  give  them- 
felvcs  that  trouble,  on  which  they  always  went  quietly  away.  Thefe 
Arabs,  when  they  have  any  difference  with  the  city,  as  often  happens, 
will  not  permit  any  body  to  go  out,  and  in  a  manner  blockade  the  city. 
SUAfaan-f  The  people  of  Alexandria  have  a  very  bad  character,  efpecially  the  mi- 
drians.  litary  men,  and  among  them  particularly  the  janizaries :  They  very  well 
anfwer  the  character  Csfar  *  gives  of  the  foldiery  of  Alexandria  in  his 
time;  theyraife  tumults,  plunder,  and  are  often  guilty  of  affaflinations, 
and  'tis  very  difficult  to  get  any  juftice  of  them. 

*  Ejt«  KtnoV  tri^tci,  efT«  TaTTo'tre^if  k'j:  iirl  &«AaVhj     y.Hu;:xi  di    tthKui  Siwgvya;  T?f  itavuSin.^. 

umiiyvt iv  Staidly  jkt^vAip-  Scrabo  I.  xvii.  p.  799.    Strabo  1.  17.  p.  795. 

*  See  note  c.  and  the  following  notes  in  the       *  At  the  latter  end  of  the  third  book,  De  Bella 
geographical  diflertation.  Civili. 

Going 


3 


ON  EGYPT. 


IT 


Going  about  two  miles  to  the  eaft  by  the  canal,  I  came  to  a  height 
to  the  north  of  it,  on  which  are  feveral  ruins  that  probably  arc  the  re- 
mains of  Eleufis,  mention'd  by  Strabo  as  a  village  of  Alexandria  in  this  Elcufc, 
fituation,  near  Nicopolis. 

Nicopolis  '  was  three  miles  and  three  quarters  from  Alexandria,  and  Nicopolis 
received  its  name  from  the  victory  Auguftus  gain'd  there  over  Antony, 
and  on  that  account  the  place  was  much  improved  by  him.  At  the 
iirft  entrance  on  the  height  from  the  plain,  I  obferved  they  had  been 
digging  out  ftones,  which,  as  they  faid,  were  foundations  of  a  wall  ;  but 
I  faw  plainly  there  had  been  a  fmall  channel  lined  with  ftone,  catried 
along  under  ground,  which  probably  convey'd  the  water  from  the  canal 
to  the  refervoir  of  Nicopolis ;  which,  tho'  it  may  feem  a  very  great  and 
extraordinary  work,  on  account  of  the  height  of  the  ground,  yet  there 
are  fuch  paflages  made  under  ground  in  Syria  to  convey  the  water  for 
many  miles,  with  piles  down  at  certain  diftances,  both  to  bring  up  the 
earth  as  they  made  the  aqueduct,  and  alfo  to  clear  it  in  cafe  of  any  ob- 
ftruflions,  as  before  defcribed,  from  the  canal  of  Canopus  to  Alexandria. 
Towards  the  fea,  it  is  an  uneven  high  ground  all  the  way  to  Nicopolis, 
on  which  there  are  many  ruins;  but  about  the  fite  of  Nicopolis,  there  are 
remains  of  a  very  extraordinary  building,  which  is  commonly  call'd  the 
Theatre,  and  I  imagine  to  have  been  fomcthing  in  the  nature  of  a  Ro- 
man caftrum ;  'twas  built  with  an  entrance  in  on  every  fide,  and  fix  fe- 
micircuiar  towers,  and  a  fquare  one  at  each  corner,  according  to  the 
plan  I  have  given  of  it  in  Plate  VI.  By  the  manner  in  which  the  ground 
lies,  there  feems  to  have  been  fome  buildings  within :  It  is  built  of  fmall 
hewn  ftone,  there  being  three  teers  of  brick  at  the  diftance  of  every  four 
feet  and  a  half ;  the  mortar  is  very  thick,  which  made  me  conjecture  that 
it  was  built  towards  the  time  of  the  lower  Empire ;  the  walls  are  not  any 
where  entire,  but  could  not  be  lefs  than  twenty  feet  high. 

About  four  leagues  from  Alexandria,  is  Aboukir,  called  by  Europeans 
Bikiere ;  it  is  on  the  weft  fide  of  a  wide  bay,  which  has  to  the  eaft 
that  head  of  land  that  makes  out  to  the  north  from  Rofetto :  On  this 
little  cape,  to  the  weft  of  the  bay,  there  is  a  garrifon'd  caftle,  and  fhips 
ride  here  in  tolerable  fafety.  We  were  lodged  with  a  Jew,  who  is  vice-  Bikiere. 
conful  to  all  the  trading  nations  of  Europe,  to  affift  the  {hipping  that 
come  to  anchor  there.  We  fent  a  letter  we  had  to  the  governor,  who 
order'd  his  lieutenant  to  come  to  us  to  offer  us  his  fervice;  and  this  offi- 
cer came  afterwards,  and  ferved  to  us  the  coffee  the  governor  fent  us. 

We  had  feen  in  the  way  about  two  leagues  from  Alexandria,  fuch  chan- 
nels made  of  ftone  near  the  furface  of  the  ground,  as  I  fuppofed  were 
made  to  Nicopolis ;  by  which  probably  the  water  of  the  canal  was  con- 
vey'd to  thefe  parts.  In  the  way  alfo  is  a  fait  lake,  the  water  of  which, 
they  fay,  comes  by  under-ground  paffages  from  the  fea,  and  is  much 
falter  than  the  fait  lakes}  that  have  no  communication  with  the  fea. 

A  chain  of  rocks  extend  above  a  league  from  Bikiere  to  an  ifland,  which 
is  about  half  a  mile  long,  and  a  furlong  wide ;  there  are  remains  in  it  of 

^   *  Aia  &  is 'I^iWfCpi  &eA&aVri-Tf  NilwflWf  §?/tf,    J'ro'jWev  o  £f$#?0{  Kcuffu%  tci  toVov.  Strabo  ].  xvii, 
t;£Vff«  KetToiKi'*!'  in)  Sf*\etrlip  voACMf  s'jt  sA«t7oi.  T^ia-     p.  795. 
KBVTX  Jt    «Vl»  «'?T9    Tjjff  'Ah^Xli^a;    fdiiat.  TstOV 

fome 


I  2, 


OBSERVATIONS 


fome  under-ground  paffages,  and  of  a  piece  of  a  flatue  we  conjectured 
was  a  Sphynx.  1  obferved  alfo  that  a  chain  of  rocks  extended  from  it 
towards  Alexandria,  fo  that  probably  the  fea  has  gain'd  much  on  the  land ; 
which  may  be  conjectured  not  only  from  this  appearance,  but  is  alfo  evi- 
dent from  a  view  of  the  fhoar  itfelf,  where  not  only  many  works  cut  in 
the  rocks  are  feen  in  the  fea,  but  alfo  ruins  of  antient  buildings;  and  pof- 
fibly  this  ifland  might  formerly  be  the  cape  of  Tapofiris b,  where  there 
was  alfo  a  city  of  that  name :  This  was  thought  to  be  the  antient  Thorns, 
faid  to  be  fo  called  from  the  King  who  entertain'd  Menelaus  and  Helen. 
About  two  miles  nearer  Alexandria,  are  ruins  of  an  antient  temnle  in 

Tapofiris.  the  water:  Whether  it  were  the  temple  of  Venus,  Arfinoe  of  Tapofiris, 
or  fome  other  temple  that  might  be  at  Zephyrium,  mentioned  in  the  way 
to  Nicopolis,  1  leave  the  reader  to  judge;  there  are  pieces  of  columns  in 
the  water  three  feet  diameter.  I  faw  alio  three  broken  ftatues  of  Sphynxes, 
about  feven  feet  long,  and  three  others  about  four  feet  long,  moft  of  them 

Zephyiium.  of  a  yellow  marble.  I  took  particular  notice  of  the  flatue  of  a  woman 
of  red  granite,  twelve  feet  long,  and  a  block  of  marble  four  feet  dia- 
meter, which  feem'd  to  have  been  the  head  of  a  coloflal  flatue,  and  manv 
pieces  about  it  appear" d  to  be  fragments  of  the  fame  flatue;  particularly 
the  hands,  which  from  the  wrift  to  the  knuckles  meafured  eighteen  inches. 

Near  this  building  alfo  are  other  ruins,  part  of  which  feem  to  have  been 
a  grand  portico,  there  being  about  it  many  pieces  of  pillars  of  grey  and 
red  granite.  To  the  fouth  of  thefe  are  many  red  granite  pillars,  which 
from  the  order  they  lie  in,  and  the  fhape  of  the  ground,  feem  to  have 
belong'd  to  a  round  temple ;  moft  of  them  are  fluted,  and  three  feet  three 

•  inches  diameter.     Several  pieces  of  plain  pillars  lie  together  two  feet  dia- 

meter ;  I  conjectured  that  they  might  belong  to  the  portico,  and  that  the 
fluted  pillars  were  within  the  temple.  All  along  the  fhoar  are  many  ruins, 
and  the  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  fea  feem  cut  out  in  fuch  a  manner,  as 
fhews  that  there  have  been  great  buildings  there.  They  dig  wells  all  a- 
bout  this  fhoar,  and  find  water  that  is  very  little  brackifh,  according  to 
the  account  that  Hirtius  'gives  of  the  Alexandrian  war;  from  which  one 
may  conjecture  that  the  water  may  come  not  only  from  the  canals,  which 
fometimes  have  very  little  water  in  them,  but  alfo  from  the  Nile,  which, 
it  has  been  found  by  experience,  fills  all  the  fandy  foil  of  Egypt  as  high  as 
the  level  of  the  waters  of  that  river.  Tho'  experiments  have  been  made 
to  prove  that  frefh  water  may  be  found  by  digging  wells  on  fhoar's  above 
high  water  mark  :  And  Csfar  feems  to  have  thought  that  the  water  came 
from  the  fea.  So  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether,  fo  near  the  fhoar,  the 
water  comes  from  the  fea  or  the  Nile. 

b  Stevi)       -rif  Ttfu/ai  ustk^o  omxa  ts  te  TztKo-yxs       c  Puteis  foffis  aquam  dulcem  polTe  reperiri  af- 

x,  r^f  Jjw'guj-^-,  iv  ij  i ijTE  fAi^x  Tairo'rKgir,  /xetos  firmabat :  omnia  cnim  lirora  naturaiirer  aquaj 

t>;v  NixcVoAiE  x,  to  ZfCufiov,  cZxga  mhjkw  e^ko-«  Af-  dulcis  venas  habere:   quod  fi  alia  efTec  ikon's 

ants  Afp^bJiVtif.  To  il  arotAaiov  it,  0wm  nva  eeto'aek  ^Egyprii  natura,  atque  omnium  reliquorum,  &c. 

EvTst^oi  <pxaiv  inuvvfiov  Ta  (3«ffiA£ojf  tS  Jii-ufiivx  Hirtiuj,  de  Bella  Akx. 
MmWv  te  ^  'ZKbrtv  £evi'«.  Scrabo  1.  1 7.  p.  800. 


CHAP. 


ON  EGYPT. 


13 


CHAP.  II. 

From  Alexandria  to  Rosetto  and  Grand  Cairo. 

f"  "f"  A  V  I  N  G  embark'd  at  Leghorn  on  the  feventh  of  September,  one 
J7X  thoufand  feven  hundred  thirty-feven,  old  ftyle,  we  arrived  at  Alex- 
andria on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  fame  month,  being  only  a  week  in  the 
voyage,  from  the  time  we  loft  fight  of  Sicily.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of 
October,  we  fet  out  from  Alexandria  to  Rofetto;  and  leaving  Bikiere  on 
the  left  hand  about  a  league,  we  came  to  the  Madea  or  ferry,  about  two  Madea. 
leagues  from  Bikiere.  The  paflage  is  over  the  outlet  of  a  lake  that  is  fup- 
pofed  to  have  been  the  lower  part  of  the  Canopic  branch  of  the  Nile,  as  Canopic 
this  ferry  clofe  by  the  fea  muft  have  been  the  mouth  of  it.-  Hera-  Hcradium 
cleum  a  was  probably  fomewhere  near,  from  which  it  was  alio  call'd  the 
Heracleotic  branch.  Canopus c  I  fuppofe  to  have  been  higher  up  this  Canopus. 
river,  probably  about  the  place  where  the  canal  went  out  of  it.  This 
place  was  famous  for  the  diflblute  manner  in  which  the  Alexandrians  di- 
verted themfelves  there,  as  well  as  in  many  other  places  along  the  canal 
that  led  to  it:  It  is  faid  to  have  its  name  from  Canopus,  Menelaus's  pilot, 
who  died  there.  On  the  other  fide  of  this  ferry  is  a  cane,  where  paffen- 
gers  repofe,  and  think  themfelves  fafe  from  the  Arabs,  who  rarely  go  to 
that  fide.  All  the  country  here  is  a  fandy  defert;  it  might  be  otherwife 
when  this  branch  of  the  Nile  annually  overflowed,  but  there  being  a  ridge 
of  low  fandy  hills  running  from  north  to  fouth  near  the  Nile,  it  is  polfi- 
ble  that  the  fruitful  foil  may  have  been  cover'd  with  the  fand  blown  from 
thofe  hills.  It  might  however  be  a  curious  experiment  to  dig  and  fee  if 
any  fuch  foil  is  to  be  found  as  is  ufually  brought  by  the  Nile.  The  fand 
changes  fo  often,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  the  way,  if  they  had 
not  built  eleven  pillars  acrofsthe  plain,  which  I  conjectured  might  be  about 
half  a  mile  apart,  in  order  to  direct  the  way,  which  otherwife  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  at  fuch  times  as  the  wind  raifes  great  clouds  of  fand, 
as  it  often  does  in  Egypt.  At  one  of  thofe  pillars  an  arch  is  turned,  and 
an  earthen  vafe  is  placed  under  it ;  which,  by  fome  charity,  is  kept  full  of 
Nile  water,  for  the  benefit  of  travellers. 

In  this  journey  I  had  the  honour  to  accompany  the  Englifh  conful,  who 
was  met  by  his  vice-conful  of  Rofetto,  as  alfo  by  many  of  the  French,  a- 
bove  a  league  from  that  town.  When  we  were  come  within  the  fandy 
hills,  we  were  furprized  at  the  fight  of  a  magnificent  tent,  where  a  hand- 
fome  collation  was  prepared.  After  this  refrefhment,  we  were  all  mount- 
ed on  fine  horfes,  fent  out  by  the  governor  of  the  city,  each  attended  by 
a  groom  on  foot,  and  fo  arrived  at  Rofetto.  The  next  morning  the  go- 
vernor fent  a  prefent  of  fheep  and  fowl  to  the  conful,  which  I  fuppofe 
was  return'd  by  fomething  of  much  greater  value. 

Rofetto  is  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  branch  of  the  Nile,  antiently  called  Rofetto. 
Bolbitinum,'  which  Herodotus  fays  was  made  by  art.    This  Town  is  called 
by  the  Egyptians  Rafchid,  and  is  efteem'd  one  of  the  moft  pleafant  places 

'  M fro!  a'i  Tiv  KaywGo'v  es-i  to  'H^kVahok  to  UganAWf  kXi&vS^as  sr^jj  Hsm,  etoj'vv^^  KttvuGx  tS  MeveAoiV 
f'^ov  il^sf.     Strabo,  I.  xvii.  p.  Sol.  X»£e{f*TK(  aVo&otvo'vT©.  0MW&I,  ixwro  TB  Xagani- 

e  Kzvwo©.  J'ts-J  ffoAjc  EV  eiKOff"!  Kj  iutrir  ro&if  aiVa'  t<£c\,  &C.    Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  801. 

Vol.  I.  E  in 


i4  OBSERVATIONS 

in  Egypt;  it  is  near  two  miles  in  length,  confifting  of  about  two  or  three 
ftreets.  It  would  be  carrying  conjectures  too  far  to  fuppofe  that  the  Mile- 
fians  fettled  here  when  firft  they  arrived  in  Egypt,  as  they  came  into  the 
branch  of  Bolbitinum,  went  out  afterwards  eaft  of  it,  and  built  the  wall 
of  the  Milefians,  and  at  length  fettled  at  Naucratis f.  Any  one  that  fees 
the  hills  about  Rofetto,  would  judge  that  they  had  been  the  antient  bar- 
riers of  the  fea,  and  conclude  that  the  fea  had  not  loft  more  ground  than 
the  fpace  between  the  hills  and  the  water.  The  fine  country  of  Delta,  on 
the  other  fide  of  the  Nile,  and  two  beautiful  iflands  a  little  below  the 
town,  make  the  profpedt  very  delightful ;  the  country  to  the  north  is  im- 
proved with  moft  pleafant  gardens  of  oranges,  lemons,  and  citrons,  and 
almoft  all  forts  of  fruits,  with  the  agreeable  variety  of  groves  of  palm- 
trees,  and  fmall  lakes  in  different  parts ;  and  when  the  fields  are  green 
with  rice,  which  is  much  cultivated  here,  it  adds  a  great  beauty  to  the 
country.  Great  part  of  the  land  of  Rofetto  belongs  to  Mecca,  and  they 
have  a  tradition  that  a  relation  of  Mahomet  was  there,  and  lived  at  a 
place  where  they  have  built  a  mofque  towards  the  north  end  of  the  town. 
They  have  alfo  a  notion  that  if  Mecca  were  taken  from  them,  the  devo- 
tion of  it  would  be  removed  to  this  place. 

They  have  here  a  great  manufactory  of  ftriped  and  other  coarfe  lin- 
nens;  but  the  chief  bulinefs  of  the  place  is  the  carriage  of  goods  between 
this  town  and  Cairo;  all  European  merchandizes  being  brought  to  this 
place  from  Alexandria  by  fea,  and  loaded  on  other  boats  to  be  carried  to 
Cairo,  as  thofe  brought  from  Cairo  on  the  Nile,  are  here  put  into  large 
boats  to  be  fent  to  Alexandria.  For  this  purpofe  the  Europeans  have  their 
vice-confuls  and  factors  here  to  tranfact  their  bulinefs,  and  letters  are 
brought  regularly  from  Alexandria  by  land,  to  be  fent  by  boats  to  Cairo, 
on  the  days  they  fet  forwards;  but  letters  of  greater  confequence,  that 
require  difpatch,  are  fent  by  foot  meffengers  acrofs  the  deferts  directly  to 
Cairo.  Tho'  Rofetto  is  fo  near  the  fea,  yet  the  water  is  very  good,  un- 
lefs  when  the  north  wind  blows  very  ftrong,  or  the  Nile  is  at  loweft, 
when  the  water  is  a  little  brackifh.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Nile  does  not 
rife  here  above  three  or  four  feet,  becaufe  its  banks  are  low,  and  the 
water  fpreads  itfelf  all  over  the  country. 
Nakedfaims.  I  faw  in  Rofetto  two  of  thofe  naked  faints,  who  are  commonly  natural 
fools,  and  are  had  in  great  veneration  in  Egypt;  one  was  a  lufty,  elderly 
man,  the  other  a  youth  about  eighteen  years  old.  As  the  latter  went 
along  the  ftreet,  I  obferved  the  people  killed  his  hand.  I  was  alfo  told 
that  on  Fridays,  when  the  women  go  to  the  burial  places,  they  frequently 
fit  at  the  entrance  of  them  ;  and  that  they  not  only  kifs  their  hands,  but 
fhew  them  the  fame  refpect  that  was  paid  to  a  certain  heathen  idol,  and 
feem  to  expect  the  fame  kind  of  advantage  from  it.  I  myfelf  faw  one  of 
thefe  faints  fitting  at  a  mofque  door  in  the  high  road  without  the  gates  of 
Cairo,  with  a  woman  on  each  fide  of  him,  at  the  time  the  caravan  was 
going  to  Mecca,  and  a  multitude  of  people  were  pafling  by,  who  are  fo 
accuftom'd  to  fuch  fights,  that  they  took  no  notice  of  it. 

Mtf$Hi  xaTcl  Kua|«'ftj  (It©-  i'  ft  tuj  MiJJwk)  k«-   NwZx^tcv  $  freAv  Tjfc  SjgiJfaf  vVefSEv.  Strabo  J.  xvii. 

nt%av  w  to  sou*  to  BoAfrJiVmy'  at'  EfcCemff  sTa^i^ar    p.  801. 

TO  VttfUf  J'*v«ffAiVfO(»T£f  Iff  TflVZstlTi- 

I  went 


3 


ON   EGYPT.  JS 

I  went  about  two  miles  north  to  the  caftle  of  Rofetto,  On  the  weft  fide  Grtie  of 
of  the  river ;  it  is  a  fquare  building,  with  round  towers  at  the  corners ;  lC' 
there  are  port  holes  near  the  bottom  of  it  :  I  obferved  about  them  fe- 
veral  pieces  of  yellow  marble,  many  of  which  had  hieroglyphics  on 
them,  and  might  be  the  pieces  of  feme  broken  obelifk.  I  faw  here  fe- 
veral  iron  cannon  made  in  the  old  way,  with  bars  and  rings,  being  in 
two  or  three  pieces,  which  fit  into  one  another;  and  three  large  brafs 
cannons.  On  one  were  ornaments  of  Flower  de  Luces,  on  the  other  was 
a  tree  with  two  letters  for  the  arms.  This  caftle  is  built  of  brick,  cafed 
with  ftone,  and  is  faid  to  be  the  work  of  Keyck  Bey,  who  lived,  as  I 
was  infonn'd,  about  three  hundred  years  ago ;  but  I  fhould  rather  think 
it  was  built  about  the  time  of  the  holy  wars,  and  that  this  Bey  might 
repair  it,  and  make  the  port  holes.  A  little  lower  down,  on  the  other 
fide  of  the  river,  is  a  platform  of  guns,  and  to  the  eaft  of  it  are  fait 
lakes,  where  they  collect,  a  great  quantity  of  fait.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
river  is  an  ifland  of  a  triangular  form,  called  Latomia,  where  a  channel  is  ifle  Latomia. 
mark'd  in  the  draught  of  it  in  the  fifth  plate,  it  is  overflow'd  when  the 
wind  blows  from  the  north  weft,  and  then  becomes  two  iflands;  it  is 
about  a  mile  in  circumference,  and  there  are  fandy  hillocks  from  eaft  to 
weft  along  the  middle  of  it.  To  the  fouth,  the  ifland  is  a  fort  of  morafs, 
and  to  the  north  it  is  fandy.  It  is  probable  this  ifland  had  its  name  from 
the  Greeks,  on  account  of  the  divifion  of  the  water  here,  by  which  two 
entrances  are  made  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Without  the  mouth  of 
the  eaftern  channel,  are  ruins  of  a  caftle  at  fome  diftance,  which,  if  I 
miftake  not,  is  on  an  ifland,  as  reprefented  in  the  map ;  it  is  called  Bur- 
gimagefelzareh-Achmed,  from  the  perfon  that  built  it. 

At  Rofetto  I  paid  a  vifit  to  Cofmas,  the  Greek  patriarch  of  Alexan-  ^a'Uilh 
dria,  whofe  ufual  relidence  is  at  Cairo.  As  I  was  introduced  by  the 
dragoman,  or  interpreter  from  the  conful,  I  had  all  the  honours  done 
me  that  are  ufual  at  an  eaftern  vifit.  Firft  a  lighted  pipe  is  offer'd, 
brought  by  the  fervant  to  you,  then  a  faucer  of  fweetmeats  is  carried  a- 
bout,  and  a  little  in  a  fmall  fpoon  given  to  every  perfon.  After  the  coffee 
is  ferved,  the  fervants  bring  to  every  one  a  bafon  of  fherbet,  with  a  hand- 
kerchief on  the  arm  for  them  to  wipe  after  they  have  drank;  and  when 
it  is  time  to  go  away,  they  fprinkle  rofe  water  on  the  hands,  with  which 
the  gueft  rubs  his  face ;  then  the  incenfe  is  brought,  which  he  receives 
leaning  the  head  forward,  and  holding  out  his  garment  on  each  fide  to 
take  the  fmoak.  This  compliment  is  paid  only  where  they  would  fhew 
a  particular  regard,  and  the  matter  makes  a  fign  for  it,  when  he  thinks 
it  is  time  the  vifit  fhould  end,  or  the  gueft  offers  to  go  away ;  which  is 
never  done  when  the  vifiter  is  much  fuperior,  till  he  makes  a  motion  to 
go.  In  thefe  vifits,  every  thing  is  done  with  the  greateft  decency,  and 
moft  profound  filence;  their  flaves  or  fervants  ftanding  at  the  bottom  of 
the  room,  with  their  hands  join'd  before  them,  and  with  the  utmoft  at- 
tention watch  every  motion  of  their  mafter,  who  commands  them  by 
figns. 

There  is  great  difficulty  in  fettling  the  antient  branches  of  the  Nile,  af- 
ter its  divifion  into  feven  parts,  when  it  runs  through  that  part  of  Egypt 
which  was  called  Delta,  by  reafon  that  many  of  them  have  been  fill'd  up 
for  want  of  being  clean'd;  and  the  maps  that  have  been  made  of  thofe 

parts 


16  OBSERVATIONS 

parts  are  not  intirely  to  be  depended  upon.  About  four  leagues  north 
eaft  of  Rofetto,  is  the  large  lake  Brulos,  which  I  fuppofe  is  the  extent 
of  the  Sebennytic  lake,  as  well  as  of  the  lake  Butice  B,  of  the  antients. 
About  the  eaft  end  of  this  lake,  the  Sebennytic  branch  might  empty  itfelf 
into  the  fea.  In  two  manufcript  maps  of  Egypt,  procured  at  Venice,  and 
probably  made  when  the  Venetians  had  fo  great  an  intercourfe  with  Egypt, 
I  find  a  place  called  Boltin,  on  this  lake,  which  may  be  the  old  Butus, 
where  there  was  an  oracle  of  Diana,  and  on  an  ifland  near  it  was  Her- 
mopolis,  which  might  be  Brulos  placed  by  Sicard  in  an  ifland  before  this 
lake.  It  may  be  fuppofed  that  this  lake,  which  is  now  of  fo  great  an 
extent,  takes  in  all  the  other  lakes  mention'd  by  the  antients  to  the  eaff, 
and  that  the  fea  breaking  in  has  made  this  alteration;  for  tho'  the  fea  may 
have  loft  juft  about  the  great  mouths  of  the  rivers,  yet  it  appears  plainly 
to  have  gain'd  in  other  parts. 
Departure  On  the  fourth  of  November  I  embark'd  with  the  conful  for  Cairo, 
on  board  a  fine  galley.  They  are  flat-bottom'd  veffels  with  three  mafts ; 
near  half  of  them  being  cover'd,  they  have  in  them  one  large  handfome 
room,  and  near  the  ftern  a  fmaller  for  the  women,  if  there  are  any  on 
board.  They  are  made  with  lattife  windows  all  round,  and  have  fwivel 
cannon  faften'd  towards  the  prow.  With  a  good  brifk  wind,  they  fail  well 
againft  the  current,  but  when  there  is  little  wind,  or  it  is  contrary,  the 
men  draw  them  up  with  a  cord  faften'd  to  the  maft ;  tho'  if  the  wind 
is  high  and  contrary,  they  are  obliged  to  lie  by,  as  they  commonly  do  at 
night,  efpecially  if  the  Nile  is  low,  when  they  are  in  greater  danger  of 
running  aground.  At  fuch  times  the  people  divert  themfelves  in  telling 
long  Arabian  ftories ;  and  if  they  are  obliged  to  flop  by  day,  the  boat- 
men frequently  pafs  away  the  time  in  acting  fome  low  farces.  The  fail- 
ing on  the  Nile  is  very  pleafant ;  the  country  on  each  fide  is  rich  and 
fruitful,  the  villages  having  palm-trees  planted  round  them,  appear  like 
fo  many  fine  groves,  as,  when  the  country  is  overflown,  they  look  like 
iflands,  as  they  really  are :  But  Egypt  appears  in  greateft  beauty  in  the 
month  of  December,  when  it  is  the  middle  of  the  fpring,  and  the  whole 
country  is  cover'd  with  green  corn  and  clover,  and  many  plants  appear  in 
full  bloffom. 

Foua.  We  came  to  Foua,  above  twenty  miles  from  Rofetto,  and  almoft  op- 

pofite  to  a  canal,  which,  I  fuppofe,  was  the  antient  continuation  of 
the  Canopic  branch.  This  canal,  they  told  me,  communicated  with 
the  canal  of  Alexandria,  and  is  probably  that  which  was  navigated  when 
the  trade  was  carried  on  this  way  to  Alexandria,  at  which  time  the  Eu- 
ropean faflors  lived  at  Foua ;  but  the  boats  having  been  often  robbed  by 
the  Arabs,  they  were  obliged  to  make  ufe  of  this  conveyance  by  fea,  and 
removed  to  Rofetto  about  fifty  or  fixty  years  ago.    It  is  probable  that 

Maucratis.  Naucratis 1  was  about  this  place,  which  was  built  by  the  Milefians,  and 
was  afterwards  made  the  great  mart  for  all  foreign  goods,  the  fhips  being 
obliged  to  bring  them  to  this  place;  or,  if  they  were  put  into  any  other 
port,  and  could  not  conveniently  come  to  this  city,  they  were  obliged 
to  fend  them  round  by  boats,  fo  that  it  muft  have  been  a  very  confide- 

E  Merx  Si  to  t£v  MlAtiffi'oJV  rtt-%@r  67r)  TO  £io£Vvu-         1  'Eu  »£icEfl«  J\  iv  tw  AsAtos  id  jUev  t£  sroro^uw 

TIKoV    VptieVTt    rfl'uflt,    Al^Ut  flflV    UY  K    ETtf «  BSTJXl}      N«uVf«TJf.    $tl"ab0  1.  XVli.    p.  80J. 

««AoTa:i  «Vj  Bou'tk  nAWf,  Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  802. 

rable 


ON    EGYPT.  17 

rable  city  *  Ten  miles  to  the  eaft  of  this  branch  of  the  Nile  was  Sais ',  Sais. 
fuppofed  by  fome  to  be  the  Sin  of  the  fcriptures.  Herodotus  m  gives  an 
extraordinary  account  of  a  room  cut  out  of  one  ftone,  that  was  placed  be- 
fore the  temple  of  Minerva  in  this  city ;  it  was  on  the  outride  twenty-one 
cubits  long,  fourteen  broad,  and  eight  high,  and  within  above  eighteen 
long,  twelve  broad,  and  five  high;  two  thoufand  men  were  employ 'd 
three  years  in  bringing  it  down  by  water  from  Elphantine  at  the  cataract, 
being  probably  cut  out  of  one  of  the  iflands  there.  Near  Sais  was  the 
afylum  of  Ofiris,  where  it  was  the  common  opinion  Ofiris  was  buried,- 
Ilis  having  depofited  feveral  coffins  in  different  places,  that  Typhon  might 
not  find  out  his  body,  according  to  the  Egyptian  mythology. 

About  a  quarter  of  the  way  to  Cairo,  is  the  fepulchre  of  Sherk  Ahmed 
Bedoui,  who  was  the  fon  of  one  of  Mahomet's  uncles ;  and  here  fome  of 
the  common  people  fay  the  pilgrimage  of  devotion  would  be  made,  in 
cafe  Mecca  were  taken  from  them.  Stopping  at  a  village  for  want  of 
wind,  we  went  to  fee  the  governor  of  the  place,  who  oft "er'd  us  Coffee ; 
and  when  vve  came  away,  he  fent  after  us  a  fmall  prefent  of  fifty  eggs 
as  a  compliment,  and  a  mark  of  his  refpect.  In  this  country  I  faw  the 
way  of  making  Indigo  blue,  with  an  herb  called  Nil.  We  arrived  at  Ou- 
arden  and  went  to  fee  the  governor,  who  would  have  entertain'd  us,  and 
fent  a  prefent  of  a  hundred  eggs  and  a  lamb,  and  afterwards  came  on 
horfeback  to  the  boat,  and  return'd  the  vifit ;  and  having  the  ufual  ho- 
nours done  him  on  that  occafion,  it  was  fignified  by  the  conful's  people 
that  wine  would  be  an  acceptable  prefent  to  him,  which  accordingly  was 
fent  after  it  was  dark,  not  to  give  umbrage  to  confeientious  muffulmen. 

The  defert  of  faint  Macarius  is  about  a  fmall  day's  journey  weft  ofneftrrsof 
this  town,  where  there  are  four  Copti  convents,  to  which  there  is  a  great  Su Macarius- 
refort  by  the  Copti  Chriftians ;  and  in  order  to  go,  they  commonly  land 
here.    Beyond  thefe  convents  are  the  lakes  of  Natron  °,  and  the  fea  Lakes  of 
without  water,  as  they  call  it,  in  Arabic,  Baher-Bellomah,  where  they  find  Natron' 
eagle  ftones ;  and  the  rocks  are  in  fuch  fhapes,  that  they  may  give  the 
common  people  occafion  to  fay  there  are  petrified  fhips  in  this  place.  It 
feems  to  have  been  an  antient  communication  from  the  lake  Mareotis  to 
the  lake  Mceris :  I  was  inform'd  that  about  thefe  convents  there  are  a  great 
number  of  wild  boars.    The  night  before  we  finifh'd  our  voyage,  was 
fpent  in  mirth  and  firing  of  cannon,  on  our  friends  coming  out  to  meet 
us.    The  next  evening  we  came  to  the  village  of  Hele,  near  Cairo,  which 
feems  to  be  fome  remains  of  the  name  of  the  antient  Heliopolis,  that 
was  about  five  miles  diftant.    On  the  morning  of  the  eleventh  of  No- 
vember, a  great  number  of  people  came  out  to  meet  the  conful,  who, 
mounted  on  a  fine  horfe,  was  preceded  by  fix  janizaries ;  and,  according 
to  an  eaftern  cuftom  of  ftate,  a  man  went  before  and  fprinkled  water  on  Arrival  at 

Cairo. 

k  See  Herodotus,  1.  ii.  c.  179.  in  Sc  ti  i!,  Sxen  wi%w  iSfot  Si,  miciftnutttiKti' 

1  'A7td  Si  7S  aroT«f*5  Sla^oivov  h'iXtes.  ij  £oiV,  k,  v^as  Se  6M7U'  tocutoo  jAv  t«  pijfa  t%w$ev  -riir  siyt); 

ftixjov  tgsv't^c  uVeg&e  to  tS  'Otn'eVo?  "Ac-uAov,  iv  u  t«j  juovoA&if  est'  arag  eo-w&ev  to  pijxot  ottTUKalSixa 

vmSxi  Ton  'Ot/^iv  tputh.  Strabo  1.  XVII.  p.  803.  ur,%tw,  kj  aruj.o'voj"  to  Ss  Eu^or  SuSzhu  st^eoju'  to1  Se 

111  To  Si  i%  >jKif«  os'vtewv,  aAAoi  l*ocA<5"oi  &avwa'^oj,  vij-or          et^ewv  ift.   Herod,  ii.  p.  I  ys. 

Efi  tc'oY  oiMftx  jUsvo'Ai^ov  ixo'/xiffE  e§  'eae$ avTi'v^f  "  See  note  1. 

sroAiflf'  x,  TSro  Exo'^j£e  pii  it  etE06  Tjsia,  SiyAhtai  Si  61  °  'T?rffl  Si  MopE/A^swr  «Vj  Sua  viToi'oei  arAeifov  nTfyav 

Sr^OOETETK^aTO  «V<^£f   UyuyiiS,  X,  8T0(  «ff«UTEf  E£Hfr«l  jij  VOfMf  NlTfJIWTIf.   Strabo  1.  XVli.  p.  80j. 

xu^Eg^xar  t£?  Si  siyyii  txujih  to  ^*s*  ftijx^.  EijwSi* 

Vol.  I.  F  the 


18  OBSERVATIONS 

the  ground  to  lay  the  duft.  In  this  manner  he  enter'd  the  city,  follow'd 
by  his  friends  and  dependants  on  humble  affes;  no  Chriftian,  except  the 
conful,  being  allow'd  to  ride  on  a  horfe  in  the  city. 


CHAP.  III. 

Between  Damiata  and  Grand  Cairo. 

TH  O'  I  did  not  make  a  voyage  on  the  eaftern  branch  of  the  Nile, 
till  I  left  Grand  Cairo  to  go  out  of  Egypt,  taking  the  fame  way 
again  on  my  return  into  Egypt,  yet  I  choofe,  in  this  place,  to  finifh  my 
account  of  Delta,  and  the  country  about  it. 
Eaftem  The  Bubaftic  and  the  Pelufiac  branches  are  the  fame  ;  Ptolemy  calls  it 

theNile.  tne  Bubaftic  branch  below  Bufiris,  which  is  fuppofed  to  have  been  at 
Baalbait,  to  the  north  eaft  of  Mattalla ;  fo  that  the  Tanitic  branch  muft 
have  gone  out  of  the  Bubaftic  ftill  lower,  and  I  fuppofe  it  was  at  the 
river  that  runs  north  of  Manfoura,  and  that  this  river  was  the  continua- 
tion of  the  Pelufiac  branch,  going  on  as  I  have  mark'd  it  in  the  map ; 
but  being  obftrufted,  the  waters  feem  to  have  made  their  courfe  chiefly 
by  the  Tanitic  branch,  which  runs  now  by  Damiata,  and  partly  by  a 
fmaller  channel  to  the  eaft  of  it  p. 

The  country  from  Damiata  to  Gaza  is  inhabited  chiefly  by  Arabs, 
who  are  under  no  regular  government.  The  river,  or  torrent  of  Egypt 
feems,  without  any  difpute,  to  be  the  rivulet  near  Rhinocorura  q.  I  fup- 
Lake  Sir-  pofe  that  the  fea  has  gain'd  on  the  lake  Sirbonis,  there  being  no  account 
to  be  had  of  it ;  'tis  not  improbable  that  the  rocks  about  this  place  were 
the  antient  barriers  between  the  fea  and  the  lake ;  the.  poets  feign  that 
Typhon  lay  under  it.  Either  this  lake  had  the  fame  properties  as  the 
dead  fea,  or  Strabo,  by  miftake,  has  applied  them  to  it '.  Near  it  was 
Mount  Caf-  Mount  Caffius*,  defcribed  as  a  fandy  hill  running  out  into  the  fea,  which 
feems  to  be  the  place  now  called  Tenere  by  mariners.  At  the  foot  of  it, 
in  the  town,  was  a  temple  to  Jupiter  Caffius ;  and  Pompey  being  mur- 
der'd  near,  was  buried  on  this  hill. 
Lake  Men-  The  great  lake  called  Menzale,  between  the  antient  Pelulium  and  Da- 
z'"'s'  miata,  feems  to  be  made  by  the  fea  on  thefe  low  and  marfhy  grounds, 
which  were  formerly  overflow'd  by  the  Nile  *.  This  lake  abounds  in  fea 
fifh,  and  great  quantities  are  brought  to  Damiata,  efpecially  a  fort  of  mul- 
lets, the  roes  of  which,  when  cured,  they  call  Botargo ;  and  when  they 
would  preferve  them  in  the  beft  manner,  they  dip  them  in  wax,  and 
carry  them  not  only  all  over  Turkey,  but  alfo  to  many  parts  of  Chriften- 
dom.  Pelufium  is  thought  by  fome  to  be  Sin  j  but  it  is  doubted  whether 
it  was  this  city  or  Sais.  Twelve  miles  from  Pelufium  was  Migdol,  men- 
tion'd  by  Jeremiah,  and  famous  for  the  defeat  of  the  Syrians,  by  Neco 
King  of  Egypt. 

P  See  geographical  ditfertation.  ea^or,  Efirs  to  n^wfe  n  McZyvx  trwua  x«t«i  kj  Auy 

^  See  geographical  difi'ertation  on  this  fubjedc.    tsu  /e^ov Kan's.  Strabo  1.  xvi.  p.  760. 

'  See  Strabo  xvi.  p.  763.  1  T»  srgoV  tw  n^acn'w  /3^a&gct,  «  nam  6 

ronw.  Strabo  1.  xvi.  p.  760. 

The 


ON   EGYPT.  r9 

The  road  for  fhipping  to  ride  in  at  this  mouth  of  the  Nile,  is  about  Road  of 
two  leagues  from  the  land,  and  very  dangerous  ;  infomuch  that  when  Damlit3' 
the  wind  is  high,  they  are  often  obliged  to  flip  their  cables  and  go  to  fea. 
For  feven  or  eight  leagues  from  the  land,  they  know  by  the  founding 
plummet  if  they  are  near  Egypt;  as  within  that  diftance  it  brings  up  the 
black,  flimy  mud  of  the  Nile,  that  fettles  at  the  bottom  of  the  fea,  which 
is  often  of  great  ufe  in  navigation,  the  low  land  of  this  country  not  being 
feen  afar  off. 

There  are  two  bars  of  fand  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which  make  Mouth  of 
the  entrance  very  difficult,  even  for  fmall  boats ;  notwithftanding  veffels  ofDamiau. 
of  thirty  or  forty  tun  watch  their  fit  opportunities  to  come  in  unloaded, 
and  are  laid  up  at  the  town  during  the  winter  feafon,  or  when  they  have 
no  bufinefs.  As  the  people  here  are  very  abfolute,  fo  in  order  to  encou- 
rage the  navigation  of  their  own  boats,  they  will  not  permit  any  fhip- 
boats  to  come  to  the  town;  and  all  the  goods  are  carried  out  in  fmall 
boats,  two  leagues  to  fea  to  the  fhipping.  On  the  fandy  point,  to  the 
weft  of  the  entrance,  above  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  end  of  it,  is  a 
fmall  round  caftle,  and  a  mile  higher  on  the  other  fide,  at  Ifhbely  Borge, 
where  the  cuftom-houfe  is  kept,  is  a  ruin'd  caftle  of  brick,  laid  to  be 
built  by  Lewis  the  ninth  of  France,  and  higher  ftill  on  the  other  fide,  is 
a  fmall  octagon  caftle  and  platform,  which  are  likewife  of  brick. 

Damiata  is  fituated  on  the  eaft  fide  of  the  Nile,  four  or  five  miles  Damiata. 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river;  the  lake  Menzale,  as  well  as  I  could  be 
inform'd,  comes  within  two  or  three  miles  of  it:  And  on  the  weft  fide, 
between  the  river  and  the  fea,  is  a  narrow  tracl  of  land  that  is  not  a 
mile  broad,  it  will  hardly  be  thought  that  Damiata  could  be  faid  to  be 
but  a  mile  from  the  fea  in  this  refpecl,  as  fome  authors  of  the  middle 
ages  feem  to  defcribe  it,  who  fay  alfo  that  it  was  a  fea-port  town,  as  it 
may  indeed  be  call'd  at  prefent,  being  the  harbour  for  boats  and  fmall 
fhips  ;  tho'  it  is  poflible  this  miftake  may  have  rifen  from  the  caftle  I 
have  mention'd  (where  there  is  a  cuftom-houfe)  being  confider'd  as  the 
port  of  Damiata,  where  there  are  great  ruins  of  houfes,  and  might  be 
near  a  mile  from  the  fea  feveral  hundred  years  paft.  At  the  north  end  of 
Damiata,  there  is  a  very  fine  large  round  tower,  built  of  hewn  ftone, 
which  might  be  the  work  of  the  Mamalukes,  after  they  recover  d  Da- 
miata from  the  Chriftians.  The  town  is  large,  but  moft  of  it  ill  built, 
being  chiefly  inhabited  by  fifhermen  and  janizaries.  I  faw  fome  water  a- 
bout  two  miles  eaft  of  the  town,  with  land  to  the  north  of  it,  which,  as 
well  as  I  could  be  inform'd,  is  the  great  lake  Menzale,  for  travellers  can 
take  no  journies  into  this  country  to  make  obfervations  ;  for,  befides  the 
rogues  that  are  without,  the  people  of  Damiata  themfelves  are  the  very 
worft  people  in  all  Turkey,  and  a  ftranger  cannot  fo  much  as  go  into  the 
ftreets  of  the  town  that  are  not  ufually  frequented  by  them,  without  be- 
ing infulted.  They  have  a  particular  averfion  to  Europeans,  which  feems 
to  be  handed  down  to  them  from  their  forefathers,  and  to  be  occafion'd 
by  the  holy  war ;  the  chief  fcene  of  which,  in  Egypt,  was  about  Damiata, 
which  was  taken  by  the  Chriftians :  And  when  Lewis  the  ninth  was  made 
prifoner,  it  was  furrender'd  to  the  Egyptians  as  a  part  of  his  ranfom.  No 
perfons  muft  appear  here  in  the  European  drefs ;  and  as  a  Chriftian  is 
known  by  his  mein,  no  ftrangers  dare  go  out  of  the  ftreets  they  are  ufed 

to 

3 


ao  OBSERVATIONS 

to  frequent.  I  myfelf  was  two  or  three  times  infulted,  and  having  the 
black  fafh  round  my  turbant,  which  janizaries  often  wear,  one  of  them 
who  pafl"ed  by  pull'd  it  from  my  head,  which  put  a  flop  to  my  walks  into 
the  town.  They  have  alfo  traditions,  that  perfons  employ 'd  as  European 
confuls  have  been  maftacred,  and  others  obliged  to  leave  the  place.  There 
is  a  remarkable  inftance  of  their  villany  and  cunning.  They  have  a  ftrict 
law  againft  taking  away  cables  and  anchors,  which  are  left  by  the  fhips 
that  are  drove  away  by  ftrefs  of  weather,  and  yet  there  are  not  wanting 
fome  even  of  top  reputation  among  them,  who  employ  their  own  people 
to  rob,  and  then  negotiate  with  the  captains  for  money  to  have  them 
reftored  out  of  the  hands  of  thofe,  they  pretend  they  dare  not  difcover : 
And  as  no  fhip-boats  can  come  to  the  town,  if  any  perfon  of  influence 
has  any  demand  on  the  captains  of  {hips,  which  they  cannot  come  at  any 
other  way,  it  has  been  known  that  they  have  flopped  them  in  the  town, 
by  contriving  that  none  of  the  boats  fhould  be  permitted  to  carry  them 
off. 

The  great  trade  here  is  an  export  of  rice  and  coffee  to  all  parts  of 
Turkey,  and  of  the  former  a  counterband  trade  to  Europe,  which  has 
been  the  caufe  of  tumults  againft  the  Chriftians :  They  have  alfo  an  im- 
port of  tobacco  from  Latichea,  and  of  foap  from  the  coafts  of  Syria. 

Manfoura.       Going  from  Damiata  to  Cairo,  we  pafled  by  the  large  city  of  Man- 

Xanis,  foura,  on  the  eaft  fide  of  the  Nile:  This  I  conjecture  might  beTanisf, 
the  Zoan  of  fcripture.  Some  travellers  mention  ruins  fix  or  feven  leagues 
off,  called  Themafe,  which  may  be  the  fame  that  Sicard  calls  Balbeis,  and 
probably  is  the  antient  little  Heracleopolis,  which  was  capital  of  a  pro- 
vince. Near  Manfoura,  the  Chriftian  forces  of  the  holy  war  were  twice 
defeated  ;  in  the  firft  action  the  earl  of  Artois  was  drowned,  and  the  brave 
earl  of  Saliibury  died  fighting  on  his  knees;  all  the  forces  being  cut  to 
pieces.  The  French  engaging  afterwards  with  Lewis  the  ninth  at  their 
head,  the  King  was  taken  prifcner,  and  Damiata,  among  other  things, 
was  given  for  his  ranfom.  The  canal  that  runs  north  of  the  town,  falls 
into  the  lake  Menzale,  and  the  fouth  end  of  it  feems  to  be  part  of  the 

Tafnss.  Pelufiac  branch,  as  it  is,  without  doubt,  the  river  Tafnes,  mention'd  by 
the  hiftorians  of  the  holy  war;  which  feems  to  have  its  name  from 
Daphne  near  Pelufium,  by  which,  I  fuppofe  it  formerly  ran  ;  that  town 
being  fuppofed  to  be  Tahpanhes  of  the  fcriptures. 

Nothing  can  be  imagined  more  beautiful  than  the  country  on  each  fide 
of  the  river,  the  villages  arc  very  thick,  and  have  pleafant  groves  of  palm- 
trees  about  them,  the  country  exceeding  rich,  and  when  it  is  green  in  the 
fpring  feafon,  and  many  things  appear  in  bloffom,  it  has  a  moft  delight- 
ful afpeft,  far  exceeding  the  country  which  is  on  the  other  branch  of 

Mahalla.  the  Nile.  We  flopped  at  the  port  of  great  Mahalla  on  the  weft,  and  rid 
on  hired  affes  about  four  miles  to  the  city,  which  is  fituated  between  two 
canals ;  it  is  a  large  city,  tolerably  well  built  of  brick,  and  is  the  capital  of 
the  province  of  Garbieh,  where  a  fanjack  or  bey  refides,  and  a  detach- 
ment from  each  of  the  feven  military  bodies,  with  its  fardar  or  captain. 
There  are  about  five  hundred  Copti  Chriftians  in  the  town,  who  have  a 
poor  little  church.    I  was  recommended  here  to  a  merchant3  who  I  think, 

f  O  T«HT);f  voiAtij  £  sroAif  h  ctuii? ^iyx\tj  Ta'vii.    Strabo  1,  xvii.  p.  802. 


was 


ON  EGYPT. 


Was  a  native  of  the  parts  towards  Morocco ;  and,  tho'  he  had  been  four- 
teen times  at  Mecca,  was  a  very  honeft  and  worthy  muffulman  ;  he  gave 
me  a  man  that  fpoke  the  Lingua  Franca,  (a  corrupt  Italian  ufed  in  the 
eaft)  to  go  along  with  me  wherever  I  pleafed,  and  a  very  good  apart- 
ment in  a  cane  that  belong'd  to  him  ;  he  fent  us  a  very  handfome  col- 
lation in  the  morning,  when  I  firft  tailed  the  butter  of  Egypt  in  the 
month  of  December,  in  its  greateft  perfection,  which  is  very  delicate. 
At  night  we  were  ferved  with  a  very  plentiful  fupper,  and  he  came  to  us 
towards  the  latter  end  of  it,  but  would  not  eat ;  which  is  the  cuftom  in 
the  eaft,  if  they  come  to  you  at  all  whilft  at  table,  which  they  rarely  do, 
unlefs  they  attend  on  perfons  of  very  fuperior  rank. 

The  next  day  I  fet  out  for  Baalbait,  four  or  five  miles  to  the  north  Bnhfe 
eaft;  it  is  fituated  about  a  furlong  to  the  eaft  of  the  canal  Thabanea,  part  Bur"is- 
of  which  I  take  to  be  the  antient  Mendefian  branch  of  the  Nile  ;  but  I 
fuppofe  that  the  Bufiritic  canal  palling  by  Baalbait,  in  the  way  to  the 
Phatnitic  branch,  a  canal  was  after  cut  from  it  to  the  Mendefian  river, 
which  was  further  to  the  north,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  map  of  Egypt ; 
and  this  probably  is  that  canal  which  now  makes  part  of  the  canal  Tha- 
banea. The  village  of  Baalbait  is  one  of  thefe  artificial  heights,  on 
which  probably  Bufiris  was  built;  which  is  thought  to  have  been  in  this 
place,  being  defcribed  as  in  the  middle  of  Delta,  and  was  famous  for  a 
large  temple  dedicated  to  Ifis there  being  great  remains  of  a  temple  here, 
the  moft  coftly  in  its  materials  of  any  in  Egypt;  it  is  built  of  granite,  and 
appears  by  the  hieroglyphics  and  capitals  of  the  pillars,  to  have  been  a  temple 
of  Ifis ;  the  ruins  of  it  are  on  the  low  ground  to  the  fouth  eaft  *.  As 
well  as  I  could  trace  out  the  foundation,  it  feem'd  to  have  been  about 
two  hundred  feet  long,  and  a  hundred  feet  broad,  for  it  is  all  a  confufed 
heap  of  ruins.  At  about  one  hundred  feet  diftance  is  a  mound  raifed 
round  it,  as  to  keep  out  the  Nile,  with  an  entrance  on  each  fide  j  the 
walls  of  the  temple  feem  to  have  been  ten  feet  thick,  and  to  be  built  on 
the  outfide  with  grey  granite,  in  very  fmall  fpecks,  with  fome  mixture  of 
red.  The  infide  was  built  of  fine  red  granite.  Meafuring  the  ftones,  I 
found  moft  of  them  were  ten  feet  long,  and  five  feet  deep  and  broad ; 
the  pillars,  all  broke  to  pieces,  were  four  feet  diameter,  of  red  granite,  the 
capital  being  the  head  of  Ifis,  as  number  thirteen,  in  the  fourth  plate  of 
the  Egyptian  architecture.  They  are  every  day  deflroying  thefe  fine  mor- 
fels  of  Egyptian  antiquity  ;  and  I  faw  fome  of  the  pillars  hewn  into  mill- 
ftones.  1  conjectured  that  there  might  have  been  four  rows  of  twelve 
pillars  each  in  the  temple;  but  what  commanded  our  attention  Hill  more, 
was  the  exquifite  fculpture  of  the  hieroglyphics  ;  and  tho'  the  figures, 
about  four  feet  high,  are  in  the  Egyptian  tafte,  yet  there  is  fomething  fo 
fine,  fo  divine,  in  a  manner,  in  the  mein  of  the  deities  and  priefts,  that 
it  far  exceeds  any  thing  I  ever  faw  in  this  way.  I  obferved  feveral  pieces 
of  very  fine  and  uncommon  marbles,  which  probably  are  the  remains  of 
ftatues  that  adorn'd  the  temple. 

Returning  to  the  boat,  and  going  on  towards  Cairo,  we  paffed  by  Se- 

v  'Es  BsVie/v  nro?uv  .  . .  .  sv  Tx'uTtj  ^  T£  sroAst  *  As  may  be  feen  in  the  fixth  plate,  reprefent- 
i;l  pejj«o(  "In©-  (ji,,  ;'JfUT*i  is  sriAif  «V,  t«  ed  as  it  is  fituated  with  regard  to  the  village  of 
'Aiyiirh  it  pie*  T;  Ai?.T«.  Herod.  1,  2.  c.  59.  Baalbait. 


Vol.  I. 


G 


menud 


22,  OBSERVATIONS 

menud,  on  the  weft,  and  foon  after  Aboufir,  two  considerable  towns ; 
the  former  does  not  feem  to  be  Sebennytus,  capital  of  the  upper  pro- 
vince of  this  name,  which  ought  to  be  look'd  for  on  the  Sebennytic 
branch. 

Canal  of  the     The  canal  between  Efhbou  and  Motrody,  might  be  the  canal  of  the 

Kinss-  Kings  to  the  Red  fea ;  and  if  fo,  Phacufa  muft  have  been  here,  at  which 
place  this  canal  began  from  the  Pelufiac  branch.  This  great  work  was 
undertaken  by  Sefoftris  King  of  Egypt,  probably  carried  on  by  Neco 
one  of  his  fucceflbrs,  and  afterwards  by  Darius,  and  finiuYd  by  Ptolemy 
the  fecond  of  that  name,  King  of  Egypt,  in  fuch  manner  as  that  they 
could  let  in  the  water  at  pleafure  ;  the  work  having  before  been  left  un- 
finilh'd,  out  of  an  opinion  that  the  Red  fea  was  higher  than  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  confequently,  if  this  canal  was  open'd,  might  diovvn  the  coun- 
try, or  at  leaft  fpoil  the  waters  of  the  Nile. 

Benalhaffar.  Further  on  the  eaft  fide,  we  came  to  Benalhaffar,  where  there  are  great 
marks  of  an  antient  city  to  the  north  of  the  village  ,•  two  bafins,  as  of 
fmall  lakes,  divided  by  a  broad  mound,  are  encompaffed  with  hi<„h  ground, 
that  feems  to  have  been  raifed  by  art,  probably  out  of  thofe  hollows  to 
build  the  city  on,  fo  as  to  be  defended  againft  the  overflowing  of  the 
Nile;  the  whole  feems  to  be  about  two  miles  in  compafs.    This  might 

Bubiftus.     be  the  antient  Bubaftus,  thought  to  be  Phibefeth  of  the  fcripture. 

It  very  well  anfwers  to  the  defcription  Herodotus  "  gives  of  it,  and  the 
temple  he  mentions  might  be  on  the  high  ground  between  the  two  ba- 
fins which,  from  Herodotus's  account,  feem  formerly  to  have  been  open 
to  the  river,  and  the  ground  of  the  city  being  raifed  by  art,  the  temple 
remain'd  in  the  middle,  as  it  was  at  firft,  on  a  ground  not  fo  high,  tho'  it 
might  have  been  raifed  above  the  other  ground :  The  whole  is  about  a 
mile  long,  and  half  a  mile  broad,  and  the  mounds  about  a  furlong  wide  ; 
on  each  of  which  they  probably  had  three  ftreets.  This  temple  was  de- 
dicated to  Diana,  who  in  the  Egyptian  language  was  called  Bubaftis, 
and  from  the  worfbip  of  her  this  city  had  its  name.  For  a  view  of  what 
remains,  and  the  village  Benalhaflar,  fee  plate  VI. 

Oniu.  Higher  on  the  river  was  Onias,  a  town  which  had  its  name  from  a 

Hebrew  prieft,  who  had  obtain'd  it  of  a  King  of  Egypt,  and  built  a  tem- 
ple there  in  oppofition  to  that  of  Jerufalem,  of  which  Joiephus  gives  a 
very  full  account ;  by  which  it  appears  from  the  words  of  Ptolemy's  grant, 
that  it  was  before  called  Leontopolis,  in  this  province  of  Heliopolis,  and 
that  there  was  a  ruin'd  temple  there  dedicated  to  rural  Bubaftis,  or 
Diana. 

u  Nejtw?  — —  of  Ti)  $tug\i%i  EVe^Et^fe  ar£«T0f  r£  eejtiW,  p*STco  <Je  TKTav  A«£«ac  o  Tligw  it,  sr^axsj-ofr 
ef  Ti)u  'Eev&^oiV  B-nhaosav  cps^nVti'  tkv  Aatfeior  o  HifOTJfi,  Toff  t^yon  Eajf  fwflf,  to  teAevtoTos',  eTac-EV  ou'-dJv  oiavvU- 
Jeuteooj  Jiwgu|f.  Herod.  1.  2.  c.  158.  A£70v'  iSiSa-xfivt        u'jro'  tivwu  oti  eFio^'foir  tov  i&-pa\ 

'ETjom'Shj  3i  ij  <Fioj£u£  KUlu^sts  p ev  vVo  E£(E«'?&ioff  eutiaq  tscti  -riy.oi!&v.hv&*vM  t>j\  "Aij-uitIov,  /ae^ewjoIe^v 
srgo  tuje  T^oVxoV  oi  Si  vVo  tS  'Scuuurivti  mctJik,  d^x-  yxg  ccntSeiiuvov  uVot'^H"  —  riif  Aiyvvrla  tijv  °Ef  u3  pjfi 
t*E*s  tto'vou,  «t'  EltAi7ro'vTOf  to'v  /3i'flt"  vfSoov  Si  uVo  Aa^ti'a     SojAaoj-Kv*  ust^ov  Si  0'  o*Eu7E^0f  nroAEi^ciisf  ffWtlihtlTSt 

l5  arfwTH  2tuhi*y.k™  TO  i^ni  E^ou'  ol  f*Ev-     ctu7cV,  &c.  Diodorus,  1.  1.  p.  29. 

iQi  n-ioKt^dino'i  0osc<AeIf  ftaxg^ofroc,  x*e*so\  bnfairen  Ultra  dererruit  inundationis  metus,  excelfiore  tri- 
to'v  "Eue/Trov,  (05-e  cVe  /3»'aoivto  ia-rrhitv  axwAuTwf  Eif  t>;v  bus  cubitis  Rubro  mari  comperto.  Aliqui  non 
ee>  SahurlxY,  ^  eiVwA«i-  arwAjy.  Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  earn  afferunt  caufam,  fed  ne  immiflb  mari,  cor- 
804.  rumperentur  aqUEE  Nili,  qua?  fola  potus  prEebec. 

'Airo  Si  tS  n>iAtf!ri«xs  ro'lfarOf  Stu^  is)  ^Eio07ro'i»!-     Pliil-  Nat,  Hijl.  1.  6.  C.  29. 
TOf  Hf  to'v  'A^Siov  jwAn-au  ^  tiJv  'E°u9-£e<*  Sciha-osav.        w  M«Ajs-«  ij  "  EsGoiVi  ss™A(f  E^oj'eSjj,  e'*  t£  it, 
T«'yt>;v  ^eb-sGwaeto  jrgun-ef  x«T£nncEv«'£«v  Nixwf  0'  /oo'v  ist  BaG*V(of,  &c.  Herod.  1.  ii.  p.  137. 

We 


Ly.  a  a. 


l  Afaharouah 


'Sifc/niurraA 


-  Ciibe  c/  Azal 


Scinilchra  T,t  1  [a  A  inn  eta  no. 


T  JSC 

Htfi   -Kdd-  Bey 


*w      -■  -  ■  ■   —  ^<?, 


n  n 


43 


^4/  Bt'satui'  C 


Mohtuuui  o 
Memphis . 
Moph  S.S.  . 


s7ft//tarc  (rcrmanicunt . 


fflUaria.  fte/tca . 


Back  of 
Foldout 
Not  Imaged 


ON    EGYPT.  23 

We  paffed  the  Delta,  and  failed  up  the  Nile  towards  Cairo,  where  it 
runs  in  one  ftream.  To  the  eaft  of  the  river  about  a  league,  was  the  antient 
city  of  Heliopolis,  which  is  On  of  the  fcriptures,  and  is  now  call'd 
Matarea ;  it  was  a  city  of  great  antiquity,  and  famous  for  the  worfhip  of 
the  fun  \  They  worshipped  alfo  a  bull  they  kept  here  under  the  name 
of  Mnevis;  as  they  adored  that  animal  at  Memphis,  by  the  name  of  Apis. 
The  account  of  the  firft  foundation  of  it  by  A&is  y,  the  fon  of  Rhoda  and 
the  fun,  and  that  he  taught  them  aftronomy,  muff,  be  look'd  on  as  a 
fabulous  account.  The  fmall  remains  of  this  city  are  to  the  north  north 
eaft  of  Cairo,  which  are  reprefented  in  the  fixth  plate.  A  large  mound 
encompaflcs  the  whole  ;  the  antient  fite  being  about  half  a  mile  broad, 
and  a  mile  long.  At  the  fouth  end  are  two  entrances,  and  at  the  weft  a 
large  one,  which  might  have  been  the  antient  way  to  the  temple,  for  near 
it  are  ruins  of  a  fphynx  of  a  bright  fpangling  yellow  marble;  it  is  about 
two  and  twenty  feet  in  length,  the  ear  is  two  feet  long,  and  the  head  four 
feet  broad  ;  it  has  fuch  a  tutulus  or  ornament  on  each  fide  of  the  head, 
channelled  as  the  great  fphynx  at  the  pyramids  has,  with  which  the 
fphynx  is  commonly  reprefented  ;  this  is  mark'd  A.  Near  it  is  a  piece  of 
the  fame  ftone,  with  hieroglyphics  cut  on  it.  Sixteen  paces  to  the  north, 
are  feveral  ftones  that  feem  to  be  the  ruins  of  another  fphynx ;  to  the 
eaft  are  fome  others  that  might  be  part  of  two  other  fphynxes,  and  a  large 
ftone  fix  feet  long  and  three  feet  broad,  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics  on 
one  fide.  There  is  an  obeliik  remaining,  mark'd  B.  almoft  oppofite  to 
the  gate,  but  a  little  more  to  the  fouth,  as  there  doubtlefs  was  another  to 
the  north.  I  found  by  the  quadrant  that  it  was  fixty-feven  feet  and  a  half 
high,  fo  that  fuppoling  it  to  be  one  of  the  four  erefled  by  Sochis,  which 
were  feventy  feet  high,  and  allowing  three  feet  for  the  depth  of  the 
plinth  it  was  let  into,  the  ground  has  rifen  feven  feet  and  a  half.  This 
obeliik  is  fix  feet  wide  to  the  north  and  fouth,  and  fix  feet  four  inches  to 
the  eaft  and  weft,  and  it  is  difcolour'd  by  the  water  to  the  height  of  near 
feven  feet.  It  is  well  preferved,  except  that  on  the  weft  fide  it  is  fcaled 
away  for  about  fifteen  feet  high.  To  the  north  of  this  obeliik,  and  of 
the  place  where,  the  other  may  be  fuppofed  to  have  flood,  the  ground  is 
very  much  raifed  ;  on  which  the  antient  city  might  be  built.  To  the 
fouth  of  the  weft  entrance,  the  earth  has  been  dug  away,  and  I  faw  a 
rufticated  wall  three  feet  eight  inches  thick,  built  with  two  rows  of  ftone 
in  breadth,  clamped  together  with  irons. 

Sultan  Selim  encamped  his  army  in  this  place  when  he  came  to  be- 
iiege  Cairo,  and  there  are  great  mounds  raifed  all  round,  of  very  large 
unburnt  brick,  and  alfo  a  rampart  to  the  eaft  of  the  obelifk,  as  repre- 
fented in  the  drawing.  There  is  a  tradition  that  Sultan  Selim  caufed  the 
fphynx  1  have  mention  d  to  be  blown  up.  '  The  priefts  of  Heliopolis  were 
the  moft  famous  of  all  Egypt  for  the  ftudy  of  philofophy  and  aftronomy, 

"'Hts'HAi'e!  sro'Air  lit)  x^^^®4  ec^ichcy^  jtejpsvij,        *  'Oi  ,yd%  'flA/K7ro/\rT«i  hiyonai   Alyvxltm  wott 

are  i'e^sv  e^isf«  t£  >iAiV,  ji,  Toy  /3?y  TOD  Mfviy  iv  tnjKW  tivJ  Aoj-i.UiOTaJoi.  Herod.  1.  2.  c.  3. 

t^eiSo'^evcu,  of  ar«p  os'vlorr  vEvo'pijai  &eo'j.  Strabo  1.  xvii.        'Ey  S\  -if'HhixTTchei  k,  ohx;  ufoptv  ^iyoih.^,  e'v  off 

P-  805.  JijTg/Ssu  oi  i'Egeif'  puhisie  ydi>  eP>j  T«*T»jy  hoIoikImv 

y  Anxif  S' Aij/u7r7oy  dndpafi  txlict  tii\i  'HAjisVoAjy  I'sgsmy  yzyaAvui  <$ae\  to   zfftf Aajo'y,  cffAoffoCPwy  Kvifgwli 

ncpagoidtfir,  aVo'  rS  roa^o'c  Siptns       &£OffvyceJct»'  ^  etVfcyopinwy.  Strabo,  1.  xvii.  p.  806, 
01  <f  'AfT.u7n.01  f^a^ov  nap  oo'utS  too  ette^)  Ttjy  ds^hvylav 
3-Eoj£tijW«7a,  Diodorus  I.  5.  p.  328. 

and 


3 


24  OBSERVATIONS 

and  were  the  firft  that  computed  time  by  years,  each  of  three  hundred 
and  fixty-five  days.  They  had  here  a  fort  of  college,  confifting  of  a  great 
number  of  rooms.  Herodotus  came  to  this  place  to  be  inftructed  in  the 
learning  of  the  Egyptians,  and  Strabo,  when  he  came  to  the  city,  was  fhewn 
the  apartments  of  Plato  and  Eudoxus;  the  latter  was  a  great  aftrono- 
mer,  and  they  ftudied  here  together  for  thirteen  years  ;  a  famous  obfer- 
vatory  near  Heliopolis  had  its  name  from  Eudoxus  *,  oppofite  to  which, 
on  the  other  fide  of  the  Nile,  where  it  divides,  was  the  city  of  Cercefura; 
but  all  this  learning,  the  fame  author  gives  an  account,  was  no  more  at 
Heliopolis  in  his  time. 
Matures.  The  village  of  Matarea  is  a  little  to  the  fouth  of  the  defcribed  enclo- 
fure.  What  it  is  very  remarkable  for,  as  well  as  the  country  two  miles 
farther  fouth,  is  the  excellent  water  that  is  always  found  here  on  digging 
about  four  feet  deep ;  it  is  faid  to  be  lighter  than  the  Nile  water,  and  that 
digging  nearer  the  river,  they  muft  go  deeper  to  find  the  fprings,  where 
the  ground  may  be  higher.  It  is  certain  that  all  over  the  land  of  Egypt, 
if  they  dig  down  lower  than  the  furface  of  the  Nile,  they  find  water, 
tho'  the  foil  being  moftly  fait,  it  makes  the  water  brackifh  ;  but  it  is  pro- 
bable that  there  happens  to  be  here  a  vein  of  earth  that  is  free  from  fait, 
and  ferves  as  a  ftrainer,  that  makes  the  waters  of  the  Nile  purer  than 
they  are  in  its  own  bed. 

The  Chriftians  of  the  country  have  a  tradition  that  the  holy  family  lay 
hid  here  for  fome  time  when  they  came  into  Egypt,  and  add  that  a  tree 
open'd  and  became  hollow  to  receive  and  fhelter  them  from  fome  bad 
people.  The  Coptis  pretend  to  fhew  the  very  tree  which  is  hollow,  and 
of  the  fort  they  call  Pharaoh's  fig,  or  the  fycamore,  and  take  away  pieces 
of  it  as  relicks;  but  the  Romans  fay  that  the  old  tree  fell  down  and 
was  carried  away  by  the  monks  of  the  convent  belonging  to  Jerufalem. 
Balfsm  gar-  They  fhew  here  a  field  they  call  the  Balfam  Garden,  where  they  fay 
de"p  the  trees  grew  of  which  they  made  the  balm  of  Gilead  ,•  and  there  is  fome 
account  that  Cleopatra,  relying  on  the  favour  of  Antony,  removed  thofe 
trees  from  the  holy  land  b,  contrary  to  the  inclination  of  Herod  ;  and 
that  from  this  place  they  were  tranfplanted  to  the  country  beyond 
Mecca. 

Land  of         There  is  great  reafon  to  think  that  the  country  about  Heliopolis  is  the 
Goflien.      ]an(j  Qf  Qofhen,  which  is  called  alfo  Ramefes  in  fcripture,  efpecially  as 
the  children  of  Ifrael  went  by  Ramefes  the  firft  ftation  on  their  departure 
from  Egypt ;    this  country  being  near  Memphis,  where  it  is  probable 
Pharaoh  refided  at  that  time. 


3  'Ev  <3e  AtGu'jj  KEOXEe-yf^  sroAjf  xolcc  Taf  'EvJo£« 
xeipivt]  mc07raV  <5Hjtvul«i          c-toir>}  Tiz  OT§0  T^j  'HAi'a 

ixHtof  tuv  xp&vlw  Tiy«f  xivnV«f.    Strabo  1.  Xvii.  p. 

8o6. 

b  'Isgjfxoijf  — — '  if)  iJ'  oiulS  Kj  $a<nAH0v,  Kf  o  rS 
PaAtro^Uif  nǤeccWcr'  eyj  tie  to  fyuYav  Sxpvojkc,  r.v!l<ru> 


toiwo'f  i,  7Eff*iv&w,  zqupurifyv'  oil  Toy  <pAo~ov  ETf^tVavfcf 
wVoAa^£«ivciv  ellytiBK  tov  oVoy.  yhlrggv  yahaxli  TXa^- 
«7rA>jffio»'  ltacAJi$&*f  f  Hi  xoj-^wtyos  AbjuCmw*  w5Sw 

K,   eil&toOHtlctS'  Ti'//i©-  80   Efl,    Xj  (SioVl  tvl'U'^a  jUo'^OF 

ymiru.  Strabo  I.  xvi.  p.  763. 


CHAP. 


ON  EGYPT. 


25 


CHAP.  IV. 

Of  Grand  Cairo. 

L  D  Cairo  feeras  to  have  fucceeded  to  the  town  and  fortrefs  of  Bajt»d  Cairo. 
\f  bylon,  which  I  imagine  to  have  been  on  Mount  Jehufi,  at  theB'lb),lon 
fouth  end  of  old  Cairo  j  from  the  north  end  of  which  the  foot  of  the 
hill  makes  out  to  the  river,  anfwering  the  defcription,.  that  by  the  foot  of 
the  hill  which  came  to  the  river,  they  raifed  the  water  up  to  the  height; 
about  which  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  conftantly  employ 'd,  who,  it 
is  to  be  fuppofed,  work'd  at  the  machines  for  that  purpofe.  There  is 
a  way  to  the  fouth,  which  feems  to  have  been  open'd  through  this  height  ,- 
and  tho'  this  and  fome  other  high  grounds  near,  look  very  much  like 
heaps  raifed  by  throwing  out  the  rubbifh  of  the  city,  yet  it  is  very  pro- 
bable that  from  the  height  they  might  carry  their  dung,  and  throw  it 
down  on  each  fide  of  this  foot  of  the  hill  to  raife  it  higher,  and  make 
this  fortrefs  the  more  inacceffible  *.  It  is  more  probable  alfo  that  Baby- 
lon was  here,  becaufe  it  is  directly  oppofite  to  the  pyramids,  as  defcribed 
by  the  antiertt  geographers,  and  very  near  the  Nile  ;  whereas  the  caftle  of 
Cairo  is  a  mile  from  the  Nile,  and  ifc  is  a  plain  ground  almoft  all  the  way 
to  the  river.  '  Some  captives  from  Babylon,  on  the  Euphrates,  having 
efcaped,  fled  to  this  hill,  made  excurfions,  and  plunder'd  the  country  ; 
but  obtaining  a  pardon,  and  fubmitting  to  the  government,  they  had 
this  place  given  them  to  inhabit,  and  call'd  it  Babylon  from  their  own 
city. 

On  the  top  of  the  hill  is  the  uninhabited  convent  of  St.  Michael ; 
to  which  a  prieft  goes  every  funday  to  officiate.  The  town  of  Babylon, 
probably  in  time,  extended  down  to  the  plain;  for  to  the  north  of  that  part 
of  the  hill  which  fcts  out  towards  the  river,  are  remains  of  a  very  ex- CaMe  Kie- 
tenfive  building,  which  I  conjecture  might  be  a  fort  of  caftrum  for  the"""' 
Roman  legion  which  was  at  Babylon  J.  It  is  call'd  Cafr  Kieman caftle 
Kieman,  and  is  exactly  of  the  fame  manner  of  architecture,  as  the  build- 

*  Beyond  this  height  are  three  or  four  old 
Copti  convents  uninhabited,  to  which  the  priefts 
go  to  officiate.  The  hill  Jehufi  runs  fo  as  to 
make  a  fmall  femicircle,  about  the  middle  of 
which  there  is  a  way  up  by  an  eafy  afcent,  by 
which  alio  the  water  might  be  railed,  that  might 
enter  to  the  very  foot  of  the  hill,  as  it  does  at 
prefent  by  a  fmall  canal :  And  there  being  a  paf- 
iage  between  the  hills  to  the  fouth  towards  Al- 
Ba&tin,  a  larger  canal  runs  there  from  the  fouth 
of  Saroneby,  and  waters  all  that  country. 

C  AiytTCLt  Ji,  TU'l  Cll%fACtAUIU»  TKf  £X  Tiff  E«£uAWKJff 

dfta/lat:  a'-of^vai  Ta'paffiAewc,  [j.,;  ivta/tinf  (piljeiv  t«? 
it  Tor?  tffOK  TaAflWTrwg^^alf•  m  x^aAa^uiv^r  uu&Z 
Tav  z:Jzl..  *  £Wg/'a*  x»fli(ai  tl(a7roAtpe7»  tcij  'Aiyvir- 

Tl'fllf  >?,     TKV    eVltyMC  yj££=ft   )[«7«$&ei'f HV'    T£A(^.  iff, 

Jo9'eiff);f  aiciai  du:tj~!  xuiomwat  tc'tov  it  K,  a'770  t?; 
wctlejLB& BaCuAwv*  zrgsHntyoqtZcxt.  Dlod.  1.  I  .p.  52. 
A»«*rAEuff«VTI  d  isi  BaGvAiwv  ^y'gxju  ttupfsv,  x-jra- 

Ka7ojjti«tf  ezapxtm  /3ji.-(Aiwv'  \v*l  t?  isl  foala- 

Vol.  I. 


■KiSov  hog  ruv  t&iuv  rcLypaim  twu  $f>x%xv7uv  rr,v 
Sio-pim-  u$Q%m7ou  £  i\$a.$t  rqhecvyw  ad  Ylu^ayJhi  it 

t|i  zti^oax  iv  M^uipH,     «Vi  zsKwiw.  Strabo  1.  xvii. 

p.  807. 

It  appears  from  Diodorus  Siculus,  that  the 
founders  of  Babylon  were  the  captives  taken  by 
Sefoftris,  or  their  defcendants  ;  tho*  there  was  an- 
other account  which  he  does  not  feem  to  credit, 
that  it  was  built  by  fome  Babylonians,  who  came 
with  Semiramis  into  Egypt.  Jofephus  feems  to 
fay  that  this  city  was  not  built  till  the  time  of 
Cambyfes. 

d  See  the  quotation  out  of  Srrabo  in  note  c. 
e  It  is  poffibJe  the  foldiers  quarter'd  here  might 
be  call'd  the  archers,  and  that  from  thence  it 
might  have  its  name  ;  Kieman,  in  the  Arabic 
language,  fignifying  the  fign  Sagittarius.  I  found 
fome  called  this  place  Cafrkeihemeh, 

H  ino- 


a6  OBSERVATIONS 

ing  defcribed  at  Nicopolis,  the  walls  being  built  of  fmall  hewn  Hone,  and 
at  the  diftance  of  every  four  foot,  are  three  layers  of  brick ;  the  plan  of 
it,  A,  and.  an  upright  of  the  front,  B,  are  in  plate  IX.  The  two  large 
round  towers,  c,  c,  are  a  very  -particular  fort  of  building ;  of  one  of  thefe 
I  have  given  a  plan,  C,  as  it  is  in  two  ftories.  This  tower  is  now  forty 
feet  high,  the  other  much  higher  ;  but  as  it  is  converted  into  a  Greek 
nunnery,  the  infide  is  very  much  alter'd  ;  on  the  third  ftory  is  a  room, 
the  cieling  of  which  is  fupported  by  eight  Corinthian  pillars ;  and  at  pre- 
fent  there  is  a  well  down  from  the  middle  of  the  room  :  All  the  doors 
and  windows  of  the  whole  building  are  arched  at  top.  This  caftle  is  in- 
habited by  Chriftians,  fo  that  there  are  feveral  churches  in  it;  and  as  it 
is  in  a  very  ruinous  condition,  it  has  been  often  tire  refuge  for  fugitives 
in  the  time  of  public  infurreflions.  The  building  in  many  parts,  is  in- 
tirely  deftroy'd,  and  they  carry  away  the  ftones  to  build. 

The  city  of  Grand  Cairo  has  been  much  magnified  as  to  its  extent,  and 
the  number  of  its  inhabitants ;  it  confifts  now  of  three  towns  or  cities  a 
mile  apart,  that  is  old  Cairo,  Cairo  properly  fo  call'd,  and  the  port  call'd 

Fofthatli.  Bulac.  The  antient  city  which  feems  to  have  fucceeded  to  Babylon,  and 
was  built  near  it,  was  call'd  Mefr,  the  old  name  of  Egypt ;  it  had  alfo 
the  name  of  Fofthath1,  becaufe  Amrou-Ben-As  pitch'd  his  tent  there 

Cairo  Caher.  when  he  befieged  Babylon.  From  this,  that  part  which  was  afterwards 
built  on  had  its  name,  which  it  might  after  communicate  to  the  whole 
town.  The  prefent  great  city  of  Cairo,  which  was  called  by  the  Arabs 
Caher  e,  according  to  their  hiftorians,  was  built  by  a  general  of  the  firft 
Calif  of  the  Fathmites,  in  the  year  nine  hundred  and  feventy-three  of 

Kebafeh.     Chrift.    It  is  faid  Saladin  built  walls  round  both  thefe  cities. 

Old  Cairo.  A  third  city  was  built  between  the  old  and  new  cities  call'd  Kebaleh, 
which  has  been  fince  deftroy'd,  and  the  ruins  of  it  are  now  feen  f. 
Gize  has  been  mention'd  as  a  city  adjoyning,  and  alfo  Roida  in  the  ifland 
I  fhall  fpeak  of. 

Granaries.  Old  Cairo  is  reduced  to  a  very  fmall  compafs,  and  is  not  above  two 
miles  round  ;  it  is  the  port  for  the  boats  that  come  from  upper  Egypt : 
Some  of  the  Beys  have  a  fort  of  country  houfes  here,  to  which  they  retire 
at  the  time  of  the  high  Nile. 

In  old  Cairo  are  the  granaries  commonly  call'd  Jofeph's ;  a  plan 
of  which  may  be  feen  in  the  ninth  plate,  D.  They  are  only  fquare 
courts  encompaffed  with  walls  about  fifteen  feet  high,  ftrengthen'd 
with  femicircular  buttreffes  ;  they  feem  originally  to  have  been  built 
of  ftone,  but  now  a  great  part  of  them  is  of  brick.  Thefe  courts  are 
fill'd  with  corn,  leaving  only  room  to  enter  at  the  door;  the  grain  is 
cover'd  over  with  matting,  and  there  is  a  flight  fence  made  round 
the  top  of  the  walls  of  canes,  which  I  imagined  were  defign'd  in  order 
to  difcover  if  any  people  have  got  over  the  walls  :  The  locks  of  the  doors 
alfo  are  cover'd  over  with  clay,  and  fealed.  As  the  birds  fometimes  get 
to  the  corn,  fo  the  keepers  of  the  granaries  are  allow'd  a  certain  quan- 

f  Fofthath,  in  the  old  Arabic,  fignifies  a  tent,    and  the  Turkith  word  at  prefent  is  Sehir,  tho* 
s  Among  the  feveral  interpretations  of  this    poflibly  it  may  have  its  name  from  Caherah, which 
word  Caher,  the  moil  natural  feems  to  be  that    lignifies  victorious. 

they  fignified  by  it  the  city  ;  Caer,  or  fomething  f  See  Bibliotheque  Oriental  D'Herbelot,  under 
like  it,  in  many  old  languages,  fignifying  a  city ;    Mefr  and  Caherah. 

tity 


ON    EGYPT.  27 

tity  on  that  account.  They  fey  there  were  feven  of  thefe  granaries,  and 
there  are  remains  of  fome  of  them  turn'd  to  other  ufes,  this  being  the 
only  one  now  ulcd  for  corn,  which  is  what  is  brought  down  from  upper 
Egypt  for  the  ufe  of  the  foldiers,  and  diftributed  out  to  them  as  part  of 
their  pay,  and  they  ufually  fell  it :  Six  yards  of  this  granary  were  full  of 
wheat,  and  one  of  barley  for  the  horfe. 

At  the  north  end  of  old  Cairo  is  the  building  for  raifing  the  water  of  Aqueduft. 
the  Nile  to  the  aqueduft ;  it  is  a  very  magnificent  plain  fabric,  faid  to  be 
erefted  by  Campion,  the  immediate  predeceflor  of  the  laft  of  the  Mama- 
luke  Kings;  it  is  a  hexagon  building,  each  fide  being  between  eighty  and 
ninety  feet  long,  and  about  as  many  high  ;  the  afcent  to  it  on  the  outfide  is 
very  eafy  for  the  oxen  to  go  up,  that  turn  the  Perfian  wheels  to  raile  the 
water  to  the  top  of  it.  The  water  comes  into  the  refervoir  below  by  a 
channel  from  the  Nile ;  but  when  the  Nile  is  low,  it  comes  into  a  lower 
refervoir,  from  which  it  is  drawn  into  the  other  by  another  wheel :  From 
this  it  is  convey'd  up  about  a  hundred  feet  by  five  oxen,  to  as  many 
wheels  above,  as  in  plate  X.  a,  are  the  wells  by  which  the  water  is  drawn 
up;  b,  are  the  leffer  bafins  by  which  it  runs  into  the  great  bafin  ;  c,  the 
refervoir  at  top,  from  whence  it  goes  by  the  canal,  d,  to  the  aqueduft, 
which  is  reprefented  with  the  upright  of  this  building.  Five  oxen  turn 
as  many  wheels  on  the  top  of  the  building,  by  which  the  water  is  drawn 
up  in  the  vafes  fix'd  to  the  cords  that  turn  on  the  wheels,  and  from  the 
top  of  them  emptying  themfelves  into' the  bafins  under  ;  from  thence  the 
water  runs  into  the  bafins,  b,  by  canals  made  for  that  purpofe. 

The  aqueduft  itfelf  is  very  grand,  in  the  ruftic  ftyle,  the  arches  and 
peers  are  of  different  dimenfions ;  but  the  former  are  moftly  from  ten  to 
fifteen  feet  wide,  and  the  peers  about  ten  feet :  In  fome  parts,  a  plain 
wall  is  built  for  feveral  feet  without  arches ;  I  number'd  two  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  arches,  tho'  others  mention  a  greater  number,  fome  near  three  Caml  of 
hundred  and  twenty.  The  arches  are  low  towards  the  caftle  hill,  where  Ta'm' 
the  ground  is  higher,  and  the  water  running  into  a  refervoir  is  raifed  up 
to  the  caftle  by  ieveral  wheels  one  over  another. 

Oppofite  to  this  refervoir  of  water  at  the  Nile,  is  the  canal  that  con- 
veys the  water  to  Cairo,  and  feems  to  be  that  which  was  made  by  Trajan : 
Near  the  mouth  of  it  they  perform  the  ceremony  of  cutting  or  opening  the 
canal,  by  breaking  down  a  mound  they  make  acrofs  it  every  year.  This 
is  done  with  great  rejoycing,  when  the  Nile  is  at  a  certain  height ;  and  as 
there  is  a  tradition  that  they  formerly  facrificed  a  virgin  every  year  when 
they  perform'd  this  ceremony,  fo  I  was  fhewn  a  fort  of  pillar  of  earth,  with  Copti 
grafs  growing  on  it,  which  when  the  canal  is  open'd,  if  I  miftake  not,  is churchc!- 
adorn'd  with  flowers ;  and  when  the  Nile  is  let  in,  is  wafh'd  away  in  lieu 
of  the  damfel  they  ufed  to  ofFer  to  the  river  God. 

There  are  about  twelve  churches  belonging  to  the  Coptis  in  old  Cairo, 
moftly  in  one  quarter  of  the  town,  inhabited  by  Chriftians :  They  have 
churches  alfo  in  Cairo,  one  of  which  belongs  to  the  Patriarch  ;  but  his 
proper  church  feems  to  be  St.  Macarius's  in  old  Cairo,  where  he  is  elefted 
and  enthroned  ;  this  is  in  the  fireet  of  the  Patriarch.  In  the  church  of 
St.  Barbara,  they  fay  they  have  her  head,  and  fome  other  relicks.  Moft 
of  the  churches  have  old  ones  under  them  ;  and  they  fay  the  Holy  Family 
was  in  the  lower  church  dedicated  to  St.  Sergius,  where  there  are  fome 

paintings 

3 


28  OBSERVATIONS 

paintings  relating  to  that  fubjeft..  Thefe  churches  generally  cohfift  of  a 
nave,  and  two  ifles,  with  galleries  over  the  iiles  fupported  by  pillars,  and 
adorn'd  with  columns  in  the  front  that  fupport  the  roof.  The  part  of 
the  altar  is  feparated  by  a  partition  that  is  often  finely  adorn'd  with  carv- 
ing, and  inlaid  with  ivory  and  tortoife  fhell.  In  the  church  of  St.  George 
of  the  Greeks,  they  fay  they  have  the  arm  of  that  faint;  they  fhewed  me 
a  pillar,  to  which  an  iron  collar,  with  a  chain  is  fix'd  ;  and  they  fay  mad 
people  confined  in  it  for  three  days,  certainly  recover.  They  inform'd 
me  that  the  Turks  often  try  this  experiment,  and  having  a  great  venera- 
tion for  the  faint,  frequently  come  and  fay  their  prayers  here  on  Iridays. 
Synagogue.  There  is  alfo  a  fynagogue,  faid  to  have  been  built  about  fixteen  hun- 
dred years  ago,  in  the  manner  it  now  is,  which  is  much  like  the  churches. 
They  fay  the  prophet  Jeremiah  was  on  the  very  fpot  where  they  ufually 
read  the  law  •  but  that  now  no  one  enters  into  that  part,  out  of  reverence. 
I  law  there  two  antient  manulcripts  of  the  law  ;  and  they  pretend  to  have 
a  manufcript  of  the  Bible,  writ  by  Ezra,  who  they  fay,  out  of  refpect 
omitting  to  write  the  name  of  God,  found  it  Writ  throughout  the  next 
day  after  it  was  finifh'd :  They  hold  it  fo  facred,  that  it  is  not  permitted 
that  any  one  fhould  touch  it;  and  they  fay  the  book  is  in  a  niche  about  ten 
feet  high,  before  which  a  curtain  is  drawn,  and  lamps  are  kept  always 
burning  before  it. 

Patriarch's       Towards  the  back  part  of  the  town  is  the  ftreet  of  the  Patriarch. 

ll^ca■  Here  are  two  churches,  one  of  which  is  St.  Macarius's,  where  the  Patriarch 
is  elefted,  and  a  houfe  with  a  chapel  belonging  to  the  Patriarch,  which 
probably  is  on  the  lite  of  the  antient  Patriarchal  palace ;  for,  when  the 
Patriarchs  firft  removed  from  Alexandria,  it  is  probable  they  took  up  their 
refidence  in  old  Cairo,  and  had  their  church  and  houle  tiiere;  but  as 
that  place  became  lefs  frequented,  and  not  fo  fafe,  they  might  remove 
into  Cairo.  The  Francifcans  belonging  to  the  convent  of  Jerufalem,  have 
a  very  neat  fmall  convent  or  hofpitium  in  old  Cairo,  where  two  or  three 
of  them  generally  live. 

Mofijues.  The  mofque  Amrah,  to  the  north  eaft  of  old  Cairo,  is  faid  to  have 
been  a  church;  there  are  in  it  near  four  hundred  pillars,  which  with  their 
capitals,  feem  to  have  been  collected  from  feveral  antient  buildings ;  the 
middle  part  is  open,  and  I  have  given  a  plan  of  it  in  the  eleventh  plate. 
It  is  probable  this  was  made  a  mofque  by  Amrou  the  Calif,  who  built 
Fofthath.  At  the  north  end  of  old  Cairo  is  a  mofque  of  very  folid  ruftic 
work,  tho'  in  a  ruinous  condition ;  it  is  call'd  the  mofque  of  Omar,  and 
js  faid  to  be  the  firft  mofque  built  in  this  place,  tho'  probably  it  was  re- 
built by  the  Mamalukes,  being  much  like  their  manner  of  buildings. 
As  this  is  mention'd  as  the  firft  mofque  that  was  built  here,  it  was  doubt- 
lefs  founded  by  Omar,  the  fecond  Calif  of  the  race  of  .Mahomet,  who  firft 
conquer'd  Egypt. 

iflcRoida.  From  old  Cairo,  I  went  over  to  the  pleafant  ifle  of  Roida,  or  Raoudah, 
which  is  oppofite  to  it,  the  channel  of  the  Nile  between  being  dry  when 
the  water  is  low ;  it  is  a  very  delightful  fpot,  the  weft  fide  is  planted 
with  large  fycamore  trees,  commonly  call'd  Pharaoh's  fig.  Towards  the 
north  end  is  the  fmall  village  of  Roida,  the  ifle  being  near  a  mile  long. 
At  the  fouth  end  is  the  Mikias,  or  houfe  in  which  is  the  famous  pillar 
for  meafuring  the  Nile ;  it  is  a  column  in  a  deep  bafin,  the  bottom  of 

which 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  29 

which  is  on  a  level  with  the  bed  of  the  Nile,  the  water  entering  on  one 
fide,  and  palling  out  on  the  other.  The  pillar  is  divided  into  meafures, 
by  which  they  fee  the  rife  of  the  Nile  ;  it  has  a  fine  old  Corinthian  capi- 
tal at  top,  which  has  commonly  been  omitted  in  the  draughts,  and  on  that 
refts  a  beam  which  goes  acrofs  to  the  gallery.  Concerning  this  manner 
of  meafuring  the  rife  of  the  Nile,  I  fhall  have  occafion  to  fay  more  in 
another  place  *.  From  the  court  that  leads  to  this  houfe,  is  a  defcent  to 
the  Nile  by  fteps,  on  which  the  common  people  will  have  it,  that  Mofes 
was  found,  after  he  had  been  expofed  on  the  banks  of  the  river. 

There  are  great  remains  of  buildings  at  this  end  of  the  ifland,  efpe- 
cially  about  the  meafuring  place;  and  to  the  weft  there  are  remains  of 
walls  ten  feet  thick,  built  of  brick,  with  turrets  that  are  a  quarter  of 
a  circle,  but  do  not  feem  to  have  been  high,  and  I  fuppofe  that  they  were 
rather  defign'd  to  prevent  the  ifle  being  encroach'd  on  by  the  river,  than 
for  any  defence.  They  fay  fome  Sultan  built  a  palace  here,  and  refided  much 
on  this  ifland  for  the  fake  of  the  air,  and  the  plcafantnefs  of  the  fituation. 

Half  a  mile  north  of  old  Cairo,  is  a  place  call'd  Caffaraline,  where  Grifialiae, 
there  are  feveral  gardens  of  oranges,  lemons,  citrons,  and  caflia;  but 
what  it  is  moft  remarkable  for,  is  a  convent  of  between  thirty  and  forty 
Dervifhes.  As  thefe  people  affefl:  a  fort  of  extraordinary  fan&ity,  fo  they  Convent  of 
live  in  a  manner  in  their  mofque,  which  is  a  large  fquare  room  cover'd  Dclvinics' 
with  a  very  fine  dome.  In  this  we  were  prefented  to  the  head  of  them, 
who  was  reading,  and  entertain'd  us  very  civilly  in  the  Turkifh  manner. 
In  it  I  faw  fome  antient  vafes,  one  being  of  white  oriental  alabafter. 
The  fuperior  had  two  pikes  near  him  with  Arabic  fentences  on  them,  and 
there  was  alfo  one  on  each  fide  of  the  niche,  which  direfts  them  which 
way  they  are  to  turn  at  prayer.  In  this  room,  and  likewife  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  convent,  are  feveral  curious  things  hung  up,  that  have  been 
collected  by  the  Dervifhes  in  their  travels  abroad,  moft  of  them  having 
fomething  of  the  wonderful  in  them  ;  as  particularly  I  faw  a  very  large 
boot,  which  they  fay  belong'd  to  fome  giant,  and  a  bowl  of  a  pipe  in 
proportion  to  it.  Thefe  Dervifhes  are  not  thofe  that  dance,  of  which 
fort  there  are  none  in  Egypt. 

A  mile  further  north  on  the  river  is  Bulac,  about  a  mile  from  new  Cairo,  Bubc. 
it  is  near  two  miles  in  compafs,  and  is  the  port  for  all  boats  that  come  up 
the  river  from  the  parts  of  Delta:  Here  they  have  a  cuftom-houfe,  many 
warehoufes  and  canes  for  travellers ;  it  is  remarkable  for  nothing  but  a 
fine  bagnio. 

The  city  of  Cairo  is  fituated  about  a  mile  from  the  river,  and  extends  New  Cairo, 
eaftward  near  two  miles  to  the  mountain  ;  it  is  about  feven  miles  round, 
for  I  was  fomething  more  than  two  hours  and  three  quarters  going  round 
the  city  on  a  beaft  of  Cairo,  computing  that  I  went  two  miles  and  a  half 
an  hour  e. 

The  city  is  faid  to  have  been  larger  than  it  is  at  prefent,  when  it  was 
the  centre  of  trade  from  the  Eaft  Indies ;  it  was  wall'd  round,  and  part  its  wall* 

*  I  have  given  a  draught  of  it  in  the  twelfth  Agelphi's  houfe,  to  the  entrance  at  the  fouth  weft 

plate,  with  fome  amendments  of  thofe  that  have  corner  of  lake  Efbikien,  twenty-five  minutes, 

commonly  been  publihVd.  From  thence  to  the  entrance  from  old  Cairo, 

e  From  the  great  mofque  which  is  in  the  way  twenty-three  minutes,  and  then  round  the  caftle 

going  from  the  European  quarter  to  Ali  Caia  to  the  place  I  began  at,  two  hours. 

Vol.  I.  I  of 


3o  OBSERVATIONS 

of  the  walls  of  freeftone  remain  to  the  north  eaft  of  the  caftle,  where 
they  make  an  angle,  turning  from  the  north  to  the  weft  :  I  faw  alfo 
fomc  remains  of  them  to  the  fouth  of  the  caftle,  going  towards  the  aque- 
duct, which  I  fuppofe  were  the  walls  of  Tailoun ;  they  are  built  with 
femicircular  towers,  and  feem  to  have  been  made  in  imitation  of  the  outer 

Gates.  walls  of  Alexandria.  There  are  likewife  three  or  four  very  grand  gates 
that  were  built  by  the  Mamalukes;  the  workmanfhip  of  them  is  very 
good,  and  amidft  all  the  fimplicity  of  the  architecture,  every  one  muft  be 
ftruck  with  the  furprizing  magnificence  of  them.  One  of  them  to  the 
fouth  is  call'd  Babel  Zuile  (the  gate  of  Zuile)  from  a  fuburbs  of  that 
name  it  leads  to.  Under  the  arch  of  the  gate  is  a  piece  of  rope  faften'd 
to  a  hook,  where  they  fay  Toman  Bey,  the  laft  Mamaluke  Sultan,  was 
hang'd  by  order  of  Sultan  Selim,  after  he  had  been  tortured  to  reveal 
treafures,  and  carried  through  all  the  ftreets  on  a  lean  camel,  drefTed  in 
ragged  clothes,  and  his  hands  bound.  Another  gate  is  Babel  Naffer;  and 
they  lay  that  Sultan  Selim  made  his  publick  entrance  through  this  gate, 
having  taken  a  (ketch  of  it,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  thirteenth  plate  at  A. 
It  probably  had  its  name  from  fome  of  the  Califs  or  Sultans  of  Egypt, 
who  had  the  name  of  Naffer.  A  little  to  the  fouth  of  it  is  a  gate  ftill 
more  magnificent,  which  is  called  Babel  Futuh,  that  is,  the  gate  of  victo- 
ry ;  it  is  of  hewn  ftone,  very  high,  and  has  a  fquare  tower  on  each  fide, 
the  water  tables  of  which  are  richly  adorn'd  with  fculptures. 

Canal.  The  canal  that  comes  out  of  the  Nile  at  old  Cairo,  goes  all  through  the 

city,  tho'  it  is  feen  only  from  the  back  of  the  houfes  that  are  built  on  it; 
for  tho'  there  are  feveral  bridges  over  it,  yet  there  are  houfes  built  on  each 
fide  of  them,  fo  as  to  intercept  the  view  of  the  canal,  but  when  it  is  dry,  it 
is  as  a  ftreet,  along  which  the  common  people  frequently  go ;  however, 
towards  the  time  it  begins  to  be  dry,  it  is  but  a  bad  neighbour,  as  a  ftench 
arifes  from  it  that  is  very  difagreeable  to  thofe  that  live  on  it,  and  muft 
be  unwholefome. 

Lakes.  If  one  imagines  that  there  are  feveral  fquares  or  places  about  the  city, 

from  a  quarter  to  three  quarters  of  a  mile  round,  contrived  fo  as  to 
receive  and  hold  the  water  of  the  Nile,  that  is  convey 'd  to  them  by  the 
canals  when  the  river  rifes,  it  may  give  fome  idea  of  the  feveral  lakes  that 
are  about  the  city  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  ;  and  nothing  can 
be  imagined  more  beautiful,  than  to  fee  thofe  places  fill'd  with  water, 
round  which  the  beft  houfes  in  the  city  are  built;  and  when  the  Nile  is 
high  in  the  fummer,  it  muft  be  an  entertaining  profpeft,  to  fee  them  co- 
ver'd  with  the  fine  boats  and  barges  of  all  the  great  people,  who  come 
out  in  the  evening  to  divert  themfelves  with  their  ladies :  As  I  have  been 
inform'd,  concerts  of  mufic  are  never  wanting,  and  fometimes  fireworks 
add  to  the  amufement ;  all  the  houfes  round  being  in  a  manner  illumi- 
nated, and  the  windows  full  of  fpeflators  to  behold  this  glorious  fight. 
The  fcene  is  much  alter'd  when  the  waters  are  gone  off,  and  nothing  but 
mud  appears;  but  is  foon  fucceeded  by  a  more  agreeable  view  of  green 
corn,  and  afterwards  of  harveft,  in  the  middle  of  a  great  city,  on  thole 
very  fpots  where  the  boats  were  failing  a  few  months  before. 

Streets.  The  ftreets  of  Cairo,  as  of  all  the  Turkifh  cities,  are  very  narrow ;  the 

wideft  goes  the  length  of  the  city  from  the  gate  Naffer  to  the  gate  Zuile, 
but  would  be  look'd  on  as  a  lane  in  Europe.    The  other  ftreets  are  fo 

narrow, 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  3i 

narrow,  that  they  frequently  make  a  roof  from  one  houfe  to  the  other 
over  the  ftreet,  and  put  a  flight  covering  on  it  to  defend  them  from  the 
fun.  The  city  of  Cairo  is  exceedingly  well  regulated  for  its  fecurity,  more 
efpecially  by  night ;  for  moft  of  the  ftreets,  or  at  leaft  each  end  of  every 
diftrift  or  ward,  has  a  gate  and  porter  to  it,  who  fhuts  up  the  gate  as 
foon  as  it  is  dark,  and  to  every  one  of  thefe  wards  is  a  guard  of  two  or 
three  or  more  janizaries,  fo  that  no  idle  people  can  go  about  the  ftreets 
at  night.  Some  little  ftreets  confift  only  of  mops,  without  any  houfes, 
and  fo  they  leave  their  fhops  lock'd  up,  and  go  to  their  houfes  at  night. 
There  are  alfo  feveral  places  for  fhops  like  our  exchanges,  call'd  Bezeftans, 
which  are  fhut  up  at  night,  and  fhops  of  the  fame  trade  are  generally  to- 
gether in  thefe  as  well  as  in  the  ftreets. 

Turkifh  houfes,  efpecially  in  Cairo,  have  very  little  beauty  in  them ;  Houfa. 
they  are  generally  built  round  a  court,  where  they  make  the  beft  appear- 
ance, nothing  but  ufe  being  confider'd  as  to  the  outfide  of  their  houfes, 
what  they  have  of  ornament  being  in  their  faloons  within;  fo  that  their  • 
houfes,  built  below  of  ftone,  and  above  a  fort  of  cage  work,  fometimes 
fill'd  up  with  unburnt  brick,  and  few  or  no  windows  towards  the  ftreet, 
are  a  very  difagreeable  fight  to  one  who  has  feen  only  European  cities,  that 
have  fomething  of  outward  regularity,  as  well  as  conveniency  and  beauty 
within. 

There  are  feveral  magnificent  mofques  in  and  about  Cairo  ;  but  that  Mofques. 
which  exceeds  them  all,  both  as  to  the  folidity  of  its  building,  and  a  cer- 
tain grandeur  and  magnificence  that  ftrikes  in  a  very  furprizing  manner, 
is  the  mofque  of  Sultan  Haffan,  built  at  the  foot  of  the  caftle  hill ;  it  is 
very  high,  of  an  oblong  fquare  figure,  crown'd  with  a  cornifh  all  round 
that  projects  a  great  way,  and  is  adorn'd  with  a  particular  fort  of  grotefque 
carvings  after  the  Turkifh  manner;  the  entrance  to  it  is  very  finely  inlaid 
with  feveral  forts  of  marbles,  and  carved  in  like  manner  at  top;  the 
afcent  was  by  feveral  fteps,  which  are  broken  down,  and  the  door  wall'd 
up,  becaufe  in  times  of  public  infurrections,  the  rebels  have  often  taken 
fhelter  there.  The  place  is  fo  ftrong,  that  now  there  is  always  a  garri- 
fon  of  janizaries  within  the  diftrict  of  it,  in  apartments  adjoining  to  the 
mofque.  To  the  north  eaft  of  the  town  is  a  very  fine  mofque  call'd  Kubbe- 
el-Azab,  or  the  cupola  of  the  Azabs,  belonging  to  the  body  of  theAzabs;  it 
is  a  very  fine  room  about  fixty  feet  fquare,  with  a  beautiful  dome  over  it, 
raifed  on  a  bafe  of  fixteen  fides,  in  each  of  which  is  a  window,-  the  room  is 
wainfcotted  round  eight  feet  high  in  pannels,  with  all  the  moft  valuable 
marbles,  among  which  are  feveral  fine  flabs  of  red  and  green  porphyry ;  the 
borders  round  the  pannels  are  carved  and  gilt,  a  fort  of  freeze  ranges  round, 
in  which  are  fentences  cut  in  large  gilt  characters,  call'd  the  Couphe  cha- 
racter, in  which  they  here  antiently  writ  the  Arabic  language.  The  walls 
above  this  are  adorn'd  with  Arabic  infcriptions  in  letters  of  gold,  and  the 
whole  cupola  is  painted  and  gilt  in  the  fineft  manner,  and  all  over  the 
mofque  are  hung  a  great  number  of  glafs  lamps  and  oftridges  eggs ;  adjoin- 
ing to  it  are  feveral  apartments  built  for  the  priefts,  and  alfo  fome  grand  ones 
for  the  great  people,  who  fometimes  come  and  refide  here.  It  is  faid  this 
magnificent  room  was  built  by  a  grand  vizier,  who  defired  the  Sultan  to 
give  him  leave  to  prepare  a  place  fit  to  offer  him  a  fhirbet  in,  on  his  re- 
turn from  Mecca. 

A  part 

x 


32  OBSERVATIONS 

Tailoun.  A  part  of  the  town  to  the  fouth  is  called  Tailoun,  faid  to  have  been  built 
before  this  city  was  founded,  by  Tholoun  who  was  mafter  of  Egypt,  in  fuch 
a  manner  as  to  be  almoft  independant  of  the  Califs;  and  'tis  faid  left  old 
Cairo,  and  built  a  palace  and  mofque  here.  This  at  firft  was  probably 
called  Cateia,  becaufe  that  perfon  is  faid  to  have  built  a  palace  of  that 
name.  What  remains  of  the  antient  palace  goes  by  the  name  of  Kalat- 
el-Kebfh,  and  they  fay  Sultan  Sclim  lodged  here.  There  are  remains  of 
the  caftle  walls  and  high  ground  within  them,  which  may  have  been  raifed 
by  throwing  out  the  dung  of  the  city,  and  afterwards  building  on  the 
high  ground,  tho'  to  the  weft  I  faw  there  was  a  natural  rock.  In  this 
wall  is  a  fort  of  fquare  turret  they  call  the  feat  of  Pharaoh;  near  it,  un- 
der an  arch,  is  an  antient  Sarcophagus  of  black  marble,  which  receives 
the  water  of  a  conduit ;  it  is  call'd  the  fountain  of  treafure,  and  by  fome 
writers  the  fountain  of  lovers,  concerning  which  the  people  tell  fome 
ftories.  It  is  richly  adorn'd  both  infide  and  out  with  hieroglyphics,  in 
the  form  of  the  draught  I  have  given  of  it  in  the  thirteenth  plate.  One 
man  feems  to  have  a  crocodile's  head,  and  on  a  fort  of  altar  mark'd  out  in 
fquares,  feem'd  to  be  cut  two  horfes  heads ;  for  the  reft,  I  could  not  be 
permitted  to  make  any  further  obfervations,  or  to  take  the  hieroglyphics 
exaftly  that  are  cut  in  thofe  columns.  At  each  end  is  a  man,  and  fix  co- 
lumns of  hieroglyphics  on  each  fide.  There  are,  befides  the  turret  call'd 
Pharaoh's  feat,  others  in  a  femicircular  form,  fo  that  probably  this  was  the 
enclofure  of  the  old  palace.  In  this  quarter  is  a  large  mofque,  faid  to 
refemble  that  of  Mecca,  and  an  antient  building,  which  feems  to  have 
been  the  quarter  of  the  body  of  foldiers  called  Cherkes,  to  whom  it  ftill 
belongs,  and  goes  by  their  name. 

Caft]c.  To  the  eaft  of  Tailoun  is  the  caftle  of  Cairo,  fituated  on  a  rocky  hill, 

which  feems  to  be  feparated  by  art  from  the  hill  or  mountain  Jebel  Duife, 
which  is  the  name  of  the  eaft  end  of  Jebel  Mocattham.  It  is  faid  this 
caftle  was  built  by  Saladin.  There  are  two  entrances  to  it  on  the  north 
fide ;  one  to  the  weft  is  called  the  gate  of  the  Azabs,  the  other  to  the  eaft, 
the  gate  of  the  janizaries.  The  defcent  by  the  former  is  narrow,  cut 
through  the  rock,  and  paffing  by  two  round  towers  near  the  gate,  and 
then  by  a  fine  large  round  tower;  the  way  is  by  a  high  wall,  on  which  at 
a  great  height,  is  a  relief  of  a  very  large  fpread  eagle,  and  fo  the  entrance 
is  oppofite  to  the  building  that  is  called  Jofeph's  hall.  The  afcent  by  the 
gate  of  the  janizaries  is  more  fpacious  and  grand ;  on  each  fide  of  the 
inner  gate  is  a  tower  of  many  fides,  and  further  on  at  another  entrance, 
is  a  large  round  tower  on  each  fide,  oppofite  to  the  great  mofque.  The 
caftle  is  wall'd  all  round,  but  is  fo  commanded  by  the  hill  to  the  eaft,  that 
it  can  be  a  place  of  no  ftrength,  fince  the  invention  of  canon.  At 
the  weft  of  the  caftle,  are  remains  of  very  grand  apartments ;  fome  of 
them  cover'd  with  domes,  and  adorn'd  with  mofaic  pictures  of  trees  and 
houfes,  that  doubtlefs  belong'd  to  the  antient  Sultans,  and  it  is  faid,  have 
fince  been  inhabited  by  the  Pafhas.  This  part  of  the  caftle  is  now  only 
ufed  for  weaving,  embroidering,  and  preparing  the  hangings  and  cover- 
ings they  fend  every  year  to  Mecca.  I  faw  them  about  this  work ,-  and, 
tho'  they  look  on  it  as  a  profanation  for  a  Chriftian  fo  much  as  to  touch 
thofe  rich  damafks  that  are  to  cover  what  they  call  the  houfe  of  God,  yet 
notwithftanding  I  ventured  to  approach  them. 

Over 


ON    EGYPT.  5 

Over  this  is  a  higher  ground  to  the  eaft, '  near  the  grand  faloon,  com-  J°<"eP' 
monly  call'd  Jofeph's  hall,  from  which  there  is  a  moft  delightfid  pro- 
fpeft  of  Cairo,  the  pyramids,  and  all  the  country  round.  It  was  probably 
a  terrace  to  that  magnificent  room,  which  is  now  all  open,  except  to  the 
fouth  fide,  and  is  adorn'd  with  very  large  and  beautiful  pillars  of  red 
granite  ;  the  walls  built  on  them  on  the  outfide  have  fuch  windows  as  are 
reprefented  in  the  draught  of  the  fourteenth  plate,  as  well  as  I  could 
take  it  under  the  reftraint  that  ftrangers  are  in  here.  Walls  alfo  are  built 
with  fuch  windows  on  many  of  the  pillars  within,  efpecially  on  the  fe- 
cond  and  third  from  the  entrance,  with  arches  turn'd  from  one  pillar  to 
another  *.  Some  of  the  capitals  of  the  pillars  are  good  Corinthian,  others 
very  plain,  and  fome  only  mark'd  out  in  lines  like  leaves ;  many  of  them 
are  only  plain  ftones  fhaped  a  little  like  a  capital,  on  fome  of  which 
there  arc  lines  like  a  figure  of  eight,  and  moft  of  them  have  fome  little 
relief.  They  have  only  a  rough  bafe,  fomething  like  the  antient  Egyp- 
tian manner,  and  all  the  pillars  have  an  Arabic  infcription  of  one  line  cut 
on  them.  On  the  fide  that  is  built  up,  where  the  wall  fets  in,  and  arches 
are  turn'd  over,  there  feem  to  have  been  three  doors,  the  middle  one  be- 
ing adorn'd  at  the  top  with  that  grotefque  fort  of  work,  which  is  common 
in  the  Eaftern  buildings ;  and  over  the  pillars  and  arches,  is  a  fort  of 
wooden  freeze,  fill'd  with  Arabic  inferiptions.  The  two  couplets  of  pil- 
lars in  the  middle  feem  to  have  been  defign'd  to  fupport  a  dome;  and 
probably  they  intended  to  have  two  others  for  that  purpofe,  mark'd  in  the 
plan,  for  it  is  to  be  queftion'd  if  this  room  was  ever  finifh'd,  and  pro- 
bably the  firft  row  of  pillars  in  the  front  was  defign'd  for  a  portico. 
The  pillars  doubtlefs  were  brought  from  fome  antient  buildings,  moft  pro- 
bably from  Alexandria;  pillars  of  one  ftonc  not  feeming  to  have  been  in 
ufe  in  Egypt  before  the  Greeks  came  among  them,  who  fliew'd  all  their 
art  and  magnificence  in  that  city.  To  the  weft  part  of  the  caftle  alfo  is 
the  jail,  which  the  common  people  will  have  to  be  the  prifon  in  which 
Jofeph  was  confined. 

About  the  middle  of  the  caftle  is  a  large  court,  on  the  fouth  fide  of  Divan 
which  are  the  Pallia's  apartments,  and  the  great  divan,  over  the  kara- 
meidan,  or  black  place  to  the  fouth.  The  plain  under  the  caftle  to  the 
north  weft  is  call'd  Remle,  or  the  fandy  place.  In  this  divan  I  faw  the 
fhields  of  leather,  above  half  an  inch  thick,  with  the  fpears  remaining  in 
them,  with  which  Sultan  Amurath  pierced  them.  Here  alfo  I  faw  the 
divan  of  Beys  affembled,  under  the  Kaia,  or  prime  minifter  of  the  Pafha, 
as  they  conftantly  meet  three  times  a  week,  the  Paftia,  whenever  he 
pleafes,  fitting  in  a  room  behind  that  has  a  communication  by  fome  lattife- 
windows.  A  ftranger  may  go  in  with  the  conful's  dragoman  or  interpreter, 
and  being  conducted  afterwards  to  the  Pafha's  coffee  room,  is  civilly  en- 
tcrtain'd  by  his  people  with  fweetmeats  and  coffee.  The  mint  alfo  is  near,  Mint, 
where  they  coin  their  gold,  and  fome  fmall  pieces  call'd  Medines,  which 
are  of  the  value  of  three  larthings,  and  are  of  iron  waflrd  over  with  fil- 
ver,  the  hafe  money  of  Conftantinople  not  palling  in  Egypt.  I  faw  a 
piece  of  a  fmall  obelifk  of  black  marble,  with  hieroglyphics  on  it  made 

*  This  hall  ought  not  to  be  reptefented  as  covei'd. 

Vol.  I.  K  ufc 


34  OBSERVATIONS 

ufe  of  as  the  fill  of  a  window ;  it  is  about  eight  feet  long,  and  eighteen 
inches  fquare. 

jofcphsweil.  The  well  in  the  caftle  has  often  been  defcribed  and  fpoken  of  as  a  very 
wonderful  thing  ;  it  is  call'd  Jofeph's  well,  not  from  the  Patriarch  Jofeph, 
but,  as  fome  authors  obferve,  from  a  grand  vizier  of  that  name,  who  had 
the  care  of  this  work  under  Sultan  Mahomet,  fon  of  Calaun,  who  did 
not  live  feven  hundred  years  ago;  the  fe&ion  and  plans  of  it  are  in  the 
fifteenth  plate  h.  It  has  been  look'd  on  as  a  very  extraordinary  thing  to 
cut  fuch  a  well  down  through  the  rock ;  but  the  ftone  is  foft,  and  it 
would  have  been  much  more  difficult  to  have  dug  it  down,  had  the  foil 
been  of  earth  or  fand,  and  to  have  built  a  wall  round  within.  Moreover, 
the  ftone  they  dug  up,  as  it  would  ferve  for  building,  might  be  of  great 
ufe  in  making  improvements  in  the  caftle.  The  pafiage  down  is  round 
the  well,  the  rock  being  left  about  two  feet  thick  between  the  pafiage 
and  the  well ;  the  defcent  for  the  firft  five  flights  is  on  the  fouth  fide  of 
the  well,  and  fo  far  the  well  and  the  pafiages  are  built ;  afterwards,  it  is 
round  the  well  as  defcribed  ;  the  pafiage  being  about  fix  feet  and  a  half 
fquare  ;  holes  are  cut  archwife  in  the  partition,  about  three  feet  and  a 
half  wide,  and  fomething  higher,  in  order  to  give  fome  light  to  the 
pafiage  down.  The  well  is  of  an  oblong  fquare  form,  and  the  defcent 
to  the  bottom  of  the  firft  well  goes  three  times  round  in  twelve  flights, 
being  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep;  the  defcent  is  very  eafy,  each  ftep 
being  about  fix  inches  high,  and  five  feet  broad,  but  the  place  is  fo  dirty, 
that  in  moft  parts  the  fteps  are  hardly  perceivable.  On  the  long  fide  I 
thought  I  could  number  fifteen  fteps,  and  on  the  other  fide  twelve.  On 
the  left  hand  of  the  pafiage,  at  the  bottom  of  this  well,  is  an  entrance 
K,  now  flopped  up,  the  people  fay  it  leads  to  the  pyramids ;  and  ano- 
ther mention'd  to  the  right,  they  fay  went  to  the  Red  fea.  From  the 
bottom  of  this  well,  by  the  hole,  M,  is  an  entrance  to  another  well  not 
fo  big;  the  defcent  is  very  difficult,  by  reafon  of  the  wet  and  dirt,  and 
alfo  dangerous,  as  the  flairs  are  narrow,  and  no  partition  between  them 
and  the  well ;  it  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  deep.  The  bottom  of 
this  well  being  probably  on  a  level  with  the  bed  of  the  Nile,  or  rather 
lower,  the  water  never  fails,  but  pafllng  through  the  fait  foil,  it  is  a  little 
brackifh,  and  ferves  only  for  common  ufes ;  and  is  not  good  to  drink. 
From  this  place  it  is  raifed  to  the  bottom  of  the  upper  well,  by  a  wheel 
turn'd  there  by  oxen,  which  raifes  feventy-two  vafes  that  hold  near  three 
quarts  each;  they  are  tied  to  ropes  that  hang  on  the  wheel,  and  there  be- 
ing convey 'd  into  another  bafin,  it  is  by  the  fame  means  raifed  to  the  top 
by  another  fet  of  oxen,  and  eighty-five  vafes.    There  is  one  thing  very 

h  A.  is  the  plan  of  the  top  of  the  well,  and  of  wife,  as  in  fection  H.  it  is  from  thence  gradually 

the  {fairs  round  it,  over  which  is  a  view  of  it  cut  in  fix  feet  further  than  above.    At  O.  in  all 

fromLe  Bruyn.    AO  A.  are  the  ftairs  about  the  the  draughts,  are  the  oxen  and  wheels  to  raife 

folid  part  B.    At  C.  begins  the  firft  flight  on  the  the  water.    The  fecf  ion  G.  is  of  the  upper  well 

fide  of  the  well.     There  are  alfo  ftairs  at  D.  down  the  middle.    H.  is  a  feclion  within  the 

C  C  C  D.  after  this  flight,  are  the  landing  places  partition,  between  the  ftairs  and  the  well, 

of  the  feveral  flights  round  the  well;  the  upper  The  next  plan  is  of  the  bottom  of  the  firft 

part  of  the  well  being  built  as  reprefented  in  the  well.    I.  the  place  where  the  water  is  drawn  up. 

feftions,  to  make  the  flights  D  C.  and  C  C.  L.  the  bafin  it  runs  into,  and  from  which  it 

longer.    Within  F.  at  O  A.  and  the  part  oppo-  is  drawn  up  to  the  top.    M.  the  defcent  down 

fite  E.  the  rock  is  cut  in  fix  feet  further  than  it  into  the  lower  well.    The  meafures  of  the  depth 

is  above  i  for  the  rock  being  mark'd  out  arch-  of  the  well  I  had  from  others. 

particular 


ON    EGYPT.  35 

particular  in  this  well,  that  between  twenty  and  thirty  feet  from  the  top, 
on  two  oppofite  fides,  it  is  cut  in,  as  I  conjectured,  fix  or  feven  feet 
archwife,  and  fo  continues  all  the  way  down  to  the  bottom,  which  was 
probably  done  to  make  the  flights  of  flairs  longer,  and  confequently 
a  more  eafy  defcent.  Some  have  remark'd  that  feveral  fuch  wells  have 
been  found  at  old  Cairo,  only  with  this  difference,  that  they  are  fingle, 
but  very  deep,  and  an  oblong  fquare  of  about  ten  feet  by  twelve,  and 
that  fome  are  even  in  ufe  to  this  day.  Near  this  well  is  the  laft  wheel 
that  raifes  up  the  water,  which  is  convey'd  by  the  aqueduct  for  better 
ufes.  This  caftle,  which  is  about  a  mile  in  circumference,  is  like  a  lit- 
tle town,  but  the  moll  part  of  it  is  in  a  very  ruinous  condition. 

To  the  fouth  of  the  caftle,  extending  away  to  the  fouth  eaft,  is  a  fort  Caraffa. 
of  antient  fuburbs,  call'd  Caraffa.  At  the  entrance  to  this  place  are  fome 
magnificent  tombs  cover'd  with  domes,  faid  to  be  the  monuments  of 
fome  Kings  of  Egypt;  the  people  fay  they  are  the  Califs,  the  relations  of 
Mahomet,  who  conquer'd  this  country ;  and  fo  great  a  veneration  they 
have  for  them,  that  they  oblige  Chriftians  and  Jews  to  defcend  from  their 
affes,  out  of  refpect,  when  they  pafs  this  way.  Caraffa  feems  to  have 
been  the  antient  univerfity  for  the  united  ftudies  of  their  law  and  divinity; 
it  is  now  in  a  manner  a  plain  of  ruins  to  the  fouth  of  mount  Duife  ; 
being  the  remains  of  many  colleges  and  convents  of  Dervifhes,  where  it 
is  faid  there  were  fo  great  a  number,  that  a  ftranger  could  pafs  a  year 
at  free  coft,  only  fpending  one  day  in  each  of  them.  On  the  right,  I 
faw  on  a  height  the  great  mofque  of  El-Imam  Schafei,  one  of  the  four 
great  doctors  of  the  law,  who  is  had  in  great  veneration  amongft  them, 
and  whofe  fepulchre  is  there  ;  it  is  call'd  La-Salehiah,  from  a  title  they 
gave  Saladin  who  built  it,  together  with  an  hofpital  and  college;  and  he 
obliged  all  the  doctors  of  Egypt  to  follow  the  doctrine  of  this  relation  of 
Mahomet,  who  was  a  native  of  Gaza.  I  faw  to  the  eaft  of  the  fouth 
point  of  the  hill  Jehufy,  where  I  fuppofe  Babylon  was,  great  remains  of 
arches  of  a  very  confiderable  aqueduct,  by  which  the  water  was  probably 
convey'd  to  this  and  other  mofques;  and  at  another  time,  when  I  was  to 
the  fouth  of  that  hill,  by  the  river,  I  faw  a  building  like  that  at  the  head 
of  the  aqueduct,  that  is  built  to  the  caftle,  which  I  fuppofe  is  the  refer- 
voir  to  which  the  water  was  raifed  from  the  canal  that  goes  to  Al-Bafetin ; 
but  there  was  no  venturing  to  go  further  to  take  a  nearer  view  of  it,  this 
being  reckon'd  the  moft  dangerous  part  about  Cairo.  Three  or  four  miles 
from  the  town  is  Bafetin,  fo  call'd  from  the  gardens  that  are  there.  A-  lMetin. 
bout  two  miles  on  this  fide  of  it,  is  the  Jews  burial  place,  to  which  jews  burial 
place  every  body  is  efcorted  by  a  guard  of  Arabs,  who  are  paid  money  Place- 
for  their  protection,  and  do  not  fail  to  ufe  you  ill.  I  had  the  curiofity  to 
go  out  and  fee  the  manner  in  which  the  Jews  bury  their  dead  in  thefe 
parts :  They  dig  a  grave  about  fix  feet  deep ;  on  the  weft  fide  of  the 
bottom  of  the  grave,  they  dig  in  a  hole  big  enough  to  receive  the  body, 
then  they  depofite  it,  laying  broad  ftones  againft  the  hole,  and  fill  up  the 
grave  ;  it  being  contrary  to  their  law,  as  I  was  inform'd,  to  lay  earth 
on  the  body.  South  of  the  burial  place  are  three  fmall  arched  houfes, 
where  they  wafh  and  prepare  the  bodies  for  burial,  that  die  out  of  their 
houfes;  for  when  that  happens,  they  never  carry  the  corpfe  into  the 
houfe. 

I  went 


36  OBSERVATIONS 

Mount  I  went  up  to  the  top  of  Jebel  Duife,  which  is  to  the  north,  from  which, 
as  I  obferved,  it  is  poflible  the  cattle  hill  might  be  feparated  by  art.  At 
the  eaft  end  there  are  feveral  grottos  all  up  the  fide  of  the  hill  in  many 
ftories,  feveral  of  which  are  inaccefiible,  but  there  is  a  way  to  fome  by  a 
narrow  terrace  ;  they  are  moftly  rooms  eight  or  ten  feet  fquare,  and  high. 
On  the  top  of  the  hill,  towards  the  weft  brow  of  it,  are  two  rooms  cut 
near  the  furface  of  the  rock,  with  holes  on  the  top  to  let  in  light;  over 
it  is  a  raifed  place  where  the  great  men  often  go  and  enjoy  one  of  the 
fineft  profpcdts  in  Egypt,  commanding  a  view  of  Cairo,  and  of  all  the 
country,  efpecially  into  Delta,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  carry.  To  the  eaft, 
over  the  fouth  clift,  is  the  mofque  in  which  the  Sheik  Duife  is  buried, 
who  has  given  name  both  to  the  hill  and  mofque.  The  mofque  within  is 
painted  all  over  with  flowers,  on  a  red  ground  ;  near  it  are  buried  feve- 
ral of  his  children,  and  the  fons  of  fome  Pafhas.  We  had  free  admit- 
tance every  where,  and  the  Sheik  fpread  a  carpet  before  the  mofque,  and 
ferved  a  collation.  Beyond  this  mofque,  on  a  hill,  is  a  folid  building  of 
fione,  about  three  feet  wide,  built  with  ten  fteps,  being  at  top  about  three 
feet  fquare,  on  which  the  Sheik  mounts  to  pray  on  any  extraordinary  oc- 
cafions,  when  all  the  people  go  out ;  as  at  the  beginning  of  a  war,  and 
here  in  Egypt,  when  the  Nile  does  not  rife  as  they  expect  it  fhould ;  and 
fuch  a  praying  place  they  have  without  all  the  towns  throughout  Turkey. 
On  another  height  of  the  hill,  to  the  eaft,  over  the  fouth  brow,  is  a 
ruin'd  building  like  a  mofque.  I  expe£ted  to  have  feen  fomething  of  an 
obfervatory  here,  mention'd  by  the  Arabian  hiftorians,  on  this  hill ;  that 
particular  part  being  a  very  advantageous  fituation.  This  hill  being 
reckon'd  a  very  dangerous  place,  the  janizary  difluaded  me  from  going, 
but  I  went  without  him,  notwithftanding  that  fome  people  call'd  after 
me  that  were  on  the  hill,  to  prevent  my  going,  being  very  defirous  to 
take  a  view  of  this  building.  We  defcendcd  the  hill  to  the  north,  by  a 
very  eafy  way,  practicable  by  camels;  the  afc'ent  to  the  fouth  being  a 
winding  foot  way  up  the  fide  of  the  hill,  which  is  there  almoft  perpen- 
dicular. On  the  north  fide  there  is  a  quarry  of  freeftone,  which  is  very 
much  ufed  for  the  buildings  of  Cairo. 

Kekk  Bey.  Under  this  hill,  to  the  north,  are  the  burial  places  call'd  Keick  Bey,  I 
fuppofe  from  fome  Bey  of  that  name  having  a  remarkable  fepulchre  here, 
where  there  are  a  great  number  of  magnificent  tombs  cover'd  with  cupo- 
las, and  feveral  large  mofques  built  over  the  burial  places  of  great  men, 
extending  for  above  a  mile  to  the  north  eaft.  In  one  part,  many  of  the 
relations  of  Mahomet  are  buried,  probably  of  the  families  of  the  antient 
Califs  of  Egypt ;  which  places  are  efteem'd  fo  facred,  that  it  is  not  per- 

Adalia.  mitted  for  Chriftians  to  go  among  thofe  fepulchres.  Beyond  thefe  fe- 
pulchres,  and  the  cube  of  the  Azabs,  is  the  country  call'd  Adalia,  where 
there  is  only  one  houfe,  in  which  the  tribute  is  depofitcd,  that  is  to  be 
fent  to  Cairo,  after  the  Bey  that  is  to  attend  it  has  made  his  public  pro- 
ceffion  thro'  the  city,  till  fuch  time  as  all  things  are  ready  for  their  dej 
parture,  which  is  often  three  or  four  months.  A  Bey  with  a  guard  is 
alfo  appointed  monthly  to  guard  this  part  of  the  country,  as  another  has 
in  charge  old  Cairo,  and  the  parts  about  it. 

Bagnios.         In  Cairo  there  are  feveral  bagnios,  fome  of  which  are  very  handfome 
within,  being  places  of  great  refort  in  Turkey,  both  on  a  religious  ac- 
count, 


ON    EGYPT.  37 

count,  in  order  to  purifie  themfelves,  and  alfo  as  places  of  refrefhment 
and  diverfion,  efpecially  for  the  women,  who  once  or  twice  a  week  fpend 
moft  part  of  the  day  in  the  bagnios,  and  are  glad  of  fuch  a  pretence  to 
get  out  of  their  confinement.  There  are  fome  bagnios  on  ptirpofe  for  the 
women,  but  the  more  general  method  is  to  fet  apart  certain  times  for 
them ;  but  the  ladies  are  deprived  of  this  public  opportunity  of  bathing 
among  the  very  great  people,  who  have  bagnios  prepared  for  them  in  their 
own  houfes. 

They  have  alfo  feveral  canes  in  Cairo,  which  they  call  here  Okelas ;  they  CmK' 
are  very  indifferent  buildings  round  a  court,  are  commonly  appropriated 
to  merchants  of  a  particular  country,  with  their  merchandife ;  as  there 
is  one  for  thofe  of  Nubia,  and  the  black  flaves  and  other  goods  they  bring 
along  with  them  ;  another  for  white  flaves  from  Georgia ;  they  have  alfo 
feveral  canes  at  Bulac,  in  all  which  ftrangers  are  accommodated  with  a 
room  at  a  very  fmall  price,  but  with  nothing  elfe ;  fo  that  excepting  the 
room,  there  are  no  greater  accommodations  in  thefe  houfes  than  there  are 
in  the  deferts,  unlefs  from  the  conveniency  of  a  market  near. 

I  went  to  fee  fome  of  the  beft  houfes  in  Cairo.  The  great  men  have  a  Koufes  ia 
faloon  for  common  ufe,  and  another  for  ftate;  and  as  they  have  four  Ca'ro' 
wives,  each  of  them  has  a  faloon,  with  the  apartments  about  it,  that  have 
no  communication  with  the  other  parts  of  the  houfe,  except  the  common 
entrance  for  the  fervants,  which  is  kept  lock'd ;  and  the  private  entrance, 
of  which  the  mafler  keeps  the  key.  They  have  fuch  a  machine  made  to 
turn  round,  as  they  ufe  in  nunneries,  which  receives  any  thing  they  want 
to  give  in  or  out,  without  feeing  one  another.  At  the  houfe  of  Ofman 
Bey,  there  is  a  fine  faloon  with  a  lobby  before  it ;  the  grand  room  is  an 
oblong  fquare;  in  the  middle  is  ano&agon  marble  pillar;  the  room  is  wain- 
fcotted  on  two  fides  about  eight  feet  high,  in  pannels  of  grey  marble, 
with  a  border  round  every  pannel  of  mofaic  work ;  the  end  at  which  one 
enters,  and  the  fide  where  the  windows  are,  not  being  finifh'd  in  this 
manner ;  the  fopha  extends  all  round  the  room,  and  the  whole  is  fur- 
niiii'd  with  the  richerc  velvet  cufhions,  and  the  floor  cover'd  with  fine 
carpets.  I  faw  another  magnificent  houfe,  of  a  much  older  date  than 
this;  it  is  faid  to  have  been  built  by  Sultan  Nafir  lben  Calahoun,  or  Ca- 
laun,  who  was  the  feventh  King  of  Egypt  of  the  Mamalukcs,  call'd  Baha- 
rites,  and  lived  about  the  year  one  thoufand  two  hundred  and  fevenry- 
nine.  The  houfe  is  built  round  a  fmall  court,  in  which  there  are  feveral 
large  apartments.  The  entrance  to  the  grand  apartment  is  by  a  fine  old 
door,  fomething  in  the  Gcthic  tafte  ;  there  is  one  thing  very  particular,  a 
fort  of  double  pillars  on  each  fide  of  the  door,  cut  out  of  one  ftone,  work'd 
fo  as  to  appear  as  if  two  pillars  were  bent  and  link'd  together,  like  a 
chain,  which  will  be  better  underftcod  by  the  draught  in  the  thirteenth 
plate,  mark'd  B.  The  magnificent  faloon  is  in  the  figure  of  a  Greek 
crofs,  with  a  cupola  in  the  middle;  it  is  wainfeotted  for  ten  feet  high,  in 
a  very  coflly  manner;  round  at  top,  about  two  feet  deep,  are  Arabic  in- 
fcriptions;  then  for  about  two  feet  more,  are  works  of  mother  of  pearl, 
and  fine  marbles,  in  the  figure  of  fmall  arches.  Below  this  it  is  all  done 
in  pannels,  which  have  a  border  round  of  mofaic  work  in  mother  of  pearl, 
and  blue  fmalt,  or  a  fort  of  glafs  that  is  not  tranfparent ;  in  fome  the  mid- 
dle part  is  of  the  fineft  marbles,  in  others  all  of  mofaic  work.    I  went  to 

Vol..  I.  L  fee 


38  OBSERVATIONS 

Tee  the  manner  of  hatching  chickens  in  ovens,  and  the  method  they  take 
to  make  fal  armoniac,  which  I  fhall  particularly  defcribe  in  another  place. 
Thofe  feem  much  to  exceed  as  to  the  number  of  people  in  Cairo,  who 
compute  that  there  are  two  millions,  tho'  it  is  pofitively  affirm'd  that  fe- 
ven  thoufand  have  died  in  one  day  of  the  plague ;  in  which  they  fay  they 
can  make  an  exact  computation,  from  the  number  of  biers  that  are  let  to 
People  of  carry  out  the  dead.  There  is  a  great  mixture  of  people  in  Cairo,  the 
Ca,r°'  city  being  compofed  of  original  Egyptians,  among  whom  are  the  Copti 
Chriftians ;  of  Arabians ;  of  the  people  of  Barbary,  and  the  weftern  parts 
of  Africa;  of  the  Berberines  of  the  parts  of  Nubia,  a  great  number  of 
their  men  coming  here  to  offer  themfelvts  as  fervants.  They  are  a  Molotto 
race  ;  have  a  fort  of  government  among  themfelves,  thofe  of  fuch  a  part  of 
the  country  chufing  a  Sheik  or  head,  who  takes  care  of  all  new  comers  to 
recommend  them  to  places,  to  fupply  them  with  money  when  they  are 
out  of  fervice,  or  fick,  for  which  they  have  a  common  purfe ;  and  when 
they  are  able,  they  faithfully  return  what  was  difburfed  on  them.  There 
are  likewife  fome  of  the  Turcoman  race,  fuch  as  are  fent  from  Conftan- 
tinople  to  fill  fome  places,  and  fuch  as  the  Pafhas  bring  with  them,  and 
chance  to  fettle  here ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  greater  part  of  the  people 
of  Cairo  are  of  the  Mamaluke  race,  defcended  from  thofe  Haves  moftly 
of  Georgia  and  parts  about  it,  who  have  lince  the  Mamaluke  eftablifh- 
ment,  come  into  the  government,  and  into  moft  of  their  offices,  and  con- 
tinue to  do  io  by  a  conftant  frefh  fupply  to  this  day ;  of  which  I  fhall 
have  occafion  to  fay  more  under  the  government  of  Egypt.  There  are 
likewife  in  Cairo  fome  Greeks,  a  few  Armenians,  and  many  Jews.  Of 
the  Europeans,  there  are  fettled  here  only  the  French,  Englifh,  and  fome 
Italians  from  Venice  and  Leghorn.  The  Francifcans  dependant  on  the 
convent  at  Jerufalem,  have  a  large  new-built  monaftery,  which  was  pulFd 
down  once  or  twice  by  the  mob,  whilft  they  were  building  it,  before  they 
could  fatisfie  the  great  people,  who  wanted  prefents;  and  it  coft  them 
great  fums  of  money,  not  only  for  the  building,  but  to  make  all  the  great 
men  their  friends.  The  fuperior  here  is  call'd  the  vice-prefect  of  Egypt, 
the  guardian  of  Jerufalem  having  the  title  of  prefect.  There  is  another 
convent  of  Francifcans,  who  are  fent  miffionaries  from  Rome  with  a  fu- 
perior, who  is  call'd  alfo  the  prefect  of  Egypt,  and  commands  three  con- 
vents they  have  in  upper  Egypt.  Thefe  live  on  a  fmall  allowance  they 
have  from  Rome,  and  on  the  charity  of  their  difciples ;  they  are  under 
the  protection  of  the  Englifh,  who  are  ready  in  thefe  countries,  to  pro- 
tect all  Chriftians  :  The  other  Francifcans,  a  convent  of  Capuchines,  and 
another  of  Jefuits,  are  under  the  protection  of  the  French.  When  any  of 
the  Englifh  happen  to  die  in  any  parts  of  the  Levant,  they  are  buried 
with  the  Greeks,  and  according  to  the  ceremonies  of  their  church,  where 
there  is  no  Englifh  chaplain.  The  European  merchants  fettled  here,  con- 
fidering  how  much  they  are  confined,  live  agreeably  enough  among  them- 
felves ;  are  generally  fociable  with  thofe  of  their  own  nation ;  and  in  a  plen- 
tiful country,  they  do  not  want  whatever  may  make  life  pafs  agreeably. 
The  morning  being  fpent  in  bufinefs,  the  remainder  of  the  day  is  often 
paiTed  in  riding  out  to  the  fields  and  gardens  to  the  north  of  Cairo, 
where  for  a  mile  out  of  town,  there  is  little  danger  ;  fometimes  the  whole 
day  is  fpent  in  diverfions  that  way  ;  and  they  have  a  relaxation  from  bu- 
finefs 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  39 

finefs  both  on  the  Chriftian  and  Jewifh  fabbath,  as  the  Jews  tranfadt  a 
great  part  of  their  affairs.  When  the  Nile  is  high,  and  little  bufinefs  is 
done,  they  fpend  their  time  in  the  houfes  they  have  at  old  Cairo  and 
Gize;  fo  that  ftrangers  pafs  their  time  as  agreeably  as  the  circumftances 
of  the  place  will  admit,  the  gentlemen  here  fhewing  them  all  manner  of 
civility,  efpecially  fuch  as  come  out  of  curiofity,  who  never  fail  to  meet 
with  a  kind  reception  in  their  houfes,  Which  they  safily  oblige  them  to 
make  their  home,  as  it  is  very  difficult  to  be  otherwife  accommodated 
here. 

The  great  trade  of  this  place  is  an  import  of  broad  clothes,  tin,  and  Trade  to 
lead,  an  export  of  coffee,  fenna,  faffranounes  for  dying,  flax,  and  feve-  Cair°' 
ral  druggs  which  come  moftly  from  Perfia ;  they  alfo  import  raw  {ilk  from 
Afia,  and  manufacture  it  chiefly  into  fattins,  and  fome  filks  in  imitation  of 
thofe  of  India  ;  and  at  fome  places  near,  they  have  manufactures  of  coarfe 
linnen.  They  alfo  make  fugar  of  the  growth  of  the  country,  which  is 
neither  cheap  nor  fine,  except  a  fmall  quantity,  very  fine,  for  the  ufe  of 
the  Grand  Signior  ;  but  as  it  is  very  dear>  fo  it  is  not  commonly  to  be  met 
with  for  fale.  They  have  fome  manufactures  in  great  perfection,  as  mak- 
ing Turkifh  ftirrops,  and  all  furniture  for  horfes ;  and  I  obferved  the  bars 
both  of  iron  and  brafs  they  make  chequerwife  to  put  before  their  win- 
dows, were  of  very  good  workmanfhip,  tho'  1  imagined  they  were  moftly 
of  the  time  of  the  Mamalukes.  They  make  lattifes  for  windows  of  turn'd 
work,  in  wood,  in  a  very  curious  and  beautiful  manner.  About  Menou- 
fieh  alfo  in  Delta,  they  make  that  fine  matting  of  dyed  rufhes,  which  is 
fent  not  only  all  over  the  Turkifh  empire,  but  alfo  to  moft  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. They  work  alfo  very  well  at  the  filver  trade,  as  in  moft  parts  of 
Turkey,  for  ornaments  for  their  women  and  horfes,  which  is  generally 
carried  on  every  where  by  the  Chriftians.  The  conveniency  of  water 
carriage  makes  Cairo  a  place  of  great  trade,  for  there  are  few  arts  in  any 
tolerable  perfection  higher  up,  or  indeed  in  any  other  part  of  Egypt,  fo 
that  all  the  country,  up  the  Nile  at  leaft,  is  fupplied  with  moft  things  from 
the  great  city ;  and  as  there  is  little  credit  among  the  Turks,  and  it  is  very 
rare  they  truft  one  another  to  negotiate  any  bufinefs  by  bills,  or  rifque 
their  money  in  the  hands  of  any  one  ;  this  always  occafions  a  great  con- 
flux of  people  to  Grand  Cairo ;  fo  that  probably  near  a  quarter  of  the 
fouls  in  the  city  not  being  fix'd  inhabitants,  and  as  they  are  not  afraid  of 
the  plague,  but  come  to  the  city  notwithflanding  the  infection,  fo  it  may 
be  fuppofed  that  a  great  number  of  the  people  that  die  of  that  diftem- 
per,  are  thofe  who  come  every  day  to  Cairo  about  their  affairs. 


CHAP.  V. 
Of  Memphis,   and  the  Pyramids  near  Cairo. 

I"  T  is  very  extraordinary  that  the  fituation  of  Memphis  fhould  not  be  well  Memphis 
J_  known,  which  was  fo  great  and  famous  a  city,  and  for  fo  long  a  time 
the  capital  of  Egypt ;  but  as  many  of  the  beft  materials  of  it  might  be 
carried  to  Alexandria  ;  and  afterwards  when  fuch  large  cities  were  built 

near 

3 


OBSERVATIONS 

near  it,  as  Cairo,  and  thofe  about  it,  it  is  no  wonder  that  all  the  mate- 
rials fhould  be  carried  away  to  places  fo  near  and  fo  well  frequented ; 
and  the  city  being  in  this  manner  levelled,  and  the  Nile  overflowing  the 
old  ruins,  it  may  be  eafily  accounted  for,  how  every  thing  has  been  bu- 
ried or  cover'd  over,  as  if  no  fuch  place  had  ever  been.  There  are  two 
diftances  mention'd  by  Strabo  h,  in  order  to  fix  the  fituation  of  Memphis ; 
he  fays  it  was  about  eleven  miles  from  Delta,  and  five  from  the  height 
on  which  the  pyramids  were  built,  which  appear  to  be  the  pyramids  of 
Gize.  Diodorus  fays  that  it  was  fifteen  miles  from  the  pyramids,  which 
Jeems  to  be  a  miftake.  Strabo  fpeaks  alfo  of  Memphis  as  near  Babylon,  fo 
that  probably  it  was  fituated  on  the  Nile,  about  the  middle,  between  the 
pyramids  of  Gize  and  Sacara,  fo  that  I  conjecture  this  city  was  about 
Mocanan  and  Metrahenny,  which  are  in  the  road  from  Cairo  to  Faiume, 
on  the  weft  fide  of  the  Nile,  and  rather  nearer  to  the  pyramids  of  Sacara, 
than  to  thofe  of  Gize ;  for  at  Mocanan  I  faw  fome  heaps  of  rubbifh,  but 
much  greater  about  Metrahenny,  and  a  great  number  of  grottos  cut  in 
the  oppofite  hills  on  the  eaft  fide  of  the  river,  which  might  be  the  fepul- 
chres  of  the  common  people  of  Memphis,  as  thofe  on  the  weitern  hills 
were  probably,  for  the  moft  part,  the  burial  places  of  their  Deities,  their 
Kings,  their  great  people,  and  their  defendants.  I  obferved  alfo  a 
large  bank  to  the  fouth  of  Metrahenny,  running  towards  Sacara,  which 
may  be  the  rampart  mention'd  by  Diodorus  Siculus ',  as  a  defence  to  the 
city,  not  only  againft  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile,  but  alfo  againft  an 
enemy  ;  and  therefore  muft  be  different  from  that  mention'd  by  Herodo- 
tus, as  twelve  miles  and  a  half  fouth  of  Memphis,  by  which  the  courfe 
of  the  river  was  turn'd,  and  confequently  at  that  diftance,  could  not  well 
be  faid  to  be  a  defence  to  the  city.  Pliny  is  ftill  more  plain,  and  fays 
that  the  pyramids  were  between  Memphis  and  Delta,  not  four  miles  from 
the  river,  and  fix  from  Memphis  *,  which  fixes  this  city  about  the  place 
I  mention. 

There  is  another  circumftance  in  the  fituation  of  this  city,  that  there 
were  large  lakes  *  to  the  north  and  weft  of  it,  both  as  a  defence,  and 
probably  alfo  to  fupply  fome  part  of  the  city  with  water;  and  I  faw 
feveral  fuch  lakes  to  the  north  and  weft  of  Metrahenny.  It  is  alfo  very 
remarkable  that  Menes  the  firft.  King  of  Egypt,  according  to  Herodotus, 
turn'd  the  courfe  of  the  Nile,  which  run  under  the  wcfiern  hills,  and 
made  it  pafs  in  the  middle  between  them  and  the  eaftern  hills,  and  built 
the  city  where  the  river  firft  run;  it  is  not  improbable  thatCalig  Al-Heram, 
that  is  the  canal  of  the  pyramids,  and  the  weftern  canal,  fome  miles  be- 


b  'H  Miy.ipis  alvTtj  Tfl  /3«G-i'Aetov  tiJk  'Aiyvxliuv'  eVi 

yuo  «7ro  ^5  AeAt«  t£/it;£0|vov  «ff  ccuth'j    naAjf 

£'  EVi  i/E j/aAi;  TE  Euait^cc ,  <£eute£«  L*£Tct  'AA«|«vJoh«v, 
JMyaSuv  dvS^m  x«3"«<te^  h,  tibv  ek«  awuwfimm'  &ga- 
umiou  be  li,  hiy.vou  rij;  ESTEAEaf  x\  Ttti*  p&o-iAeiw*,  «  vvv 

Kovla  piyjy.  t5  xctTU  ttic  EsraAsac  ijutyvs'  iruvaV7e* 
A  aAo-tgr  oujtu  ;i,  Aiuvjj.  Tfilaf^^adu.  A'  «Vo  T-?f  woAe&jf 
f«Ji'oi(  irfc£A:}o'vT/,  o'gHvtj'  TIP  ePgur  es-jv,  ip  ji  rooAA«* 
jUEv  nuqapiSzt  eiVi  t»'$01  Twv  /BkfiAewv.  Strabo  1.  17. 
p.  807,  808. 

1  PfovT®'  yctq  t£  NeiAh  t?tf>  Tfjv  itgAiv,  k)  kmt»  t«e 

BVaSafTtti    £7TI)tAu^0VT0f,   U710    fitV    T&    VOTii  OtScthtit 

X/ip»  &U[*iJ.iy&ii  iffgof  ^utv  Tf;v  3*rA>ffWju  lis  &ola[AX 


srestjAH^olor.  argof   cJe   ts?   «/To    t?(  yrjs  sroAEtdWr, 

«Kft!TDA£We  E^OV  T«|lV*  EJC  At    7WV    «AAW»    pEf^V  KT«V- 

S^ov  is  EEroTs^/a  &;gojU£l'if,  x)  sr«v]»  to*  nr£fy\  t>jii  etoAiv 
toVov  arAtj^ffct,  Mr*  ri  x«T£ffK£v«s-o  SoLupzsyi 

ejj-o'ih  tijv  iyu^-i^a.  Diodorus  i.  1 .  p,  46. 
*  See  quotation  r.  on  the  pyramids. 
'Est  ya%  ji,     Mlppiff  it  t&j  s-«v£  the  'Aiyv-nl*, 

e£<t>&EV  (JE    eWlW  ttg/O^^CU   Al'tiL^B    £!t    TK  uToloI^tK  STfOf 

(3;^si]V  ts  jej  tcni^y  To  j-c.j  eet^o?  tjjv  jj»  oJto's  0  NsiAof 
a-Tti^yti'  tKto  Je,  W  H^oiV y  to  i'ojv  iS^ucx&au  h  ojji^ 

eov  ,uej<«  te  ^  a£i«(p!;^>jT;T«7{iy.  Herodotus  1.  ii. 
c.  99.    Sec  note  i. 

yond 


Back  of 
Foldout 
Not  Imaged 


ON    EGYPT.  41 

yond  Metrahenny,  over  which  there  is  a  large  bridge,  and  which  at  pre- 
fent  runs  under  the  hills,  may  at  leaft  in  fome  parts,  be  the  remains  of 
the  antient  bed  of  the  Nile  ;  and  from  this  account  we  have,  the  city  of 
Memphis  feems  to  have  extended  from  the  old  canal  to  the  new  one,  and 
fome  parts  of  it  to  have  reach'd  as  far  as  the  hills ;  for  the  Serapium  1  is 
mention'd  in  a  very  fandy  place,  and  confequently  towards  the  hills  where 
the  Nile  does  not  overflow,  for  I  found  the  country  fandy  in  fome  parts 
for  near  a  mile  from  the  hills.  The  palace  of  the  Kings  alfo  was  on 
high  ground,  extending  down  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  city,  where  there 
were  lakes  and  groves  adjoining  to  it ;  and  I  faw  near  Sacara  a  fort  of 
wood  of  the  Acacia  tree,  this  and  Dendera  being  the  only  places  in  Egypt 
where  I  faw  wood  grow  as  without  art,  and  it  is  pofllble  this  wood  may 
be  fome  remains  of  the  antient  groves  about  Memphis.  The  city  being, 
according  to  fome  authors,  above  eighteen  miles  round  m,  it  might  very 
well  take  up  the  whole  fpace  between  the  river  and  the  hills,  which  I  take 
not  to  be  above  four  or  five  miles  ;  but  what  fixes  the  fituation  of  Memphis 
to  this  part,  is  Pliny's  account,  who  fays  that  the  pyramids  were  between 
Memphis  and  the  Delta. 

This  city  was  famous  for  the  worlhip  of  Ofiris,  under  the  fhape  of  a 
living  bull  they  call'd  Apis,  probably  becaufe  that  animal  is  fo  ufeful  in 
agriculture  invented  by  that  King.  They  had  alfo  a  famous  temple  of 
Vulcan,  and  another  that  was  dedicated  to  Venus. 

The  moft  remarkable  pyramids  which  are  taken  notice  of  by  the  an-  Pyramids, 
tients,  muft,  according  to  this  account,  have  been  to  the  north  weft  of 
Memphis ;  they  are  call'd  now  the  pyramids  of  Gize,  and  according  to 
this  defcription  of  the  antients,  are  towards  the  brow  of  the  hills ;  for  the 
low  hills  extending  to  the  fouth  eaft,  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  Delta,  and 
near  to  this  place,  they  here  fet  out  for  about  two  miles  to  the  eaft,  and 
then  running  fouth,  the  pyramids  are  built  towards  the  north  eaft  angle 
the  hills  being  computed  to  be  about  one  hundred  feet  high  above  the  plain, 
and  are  of  fuch  freeftone  as  the  pyramids  are  built  with.  On  examining 
the  pyramids,  and  taking  a  view  from  the  top  of  the  great  pyramid,  I 
made  the  plan  of  them  and  the  fepulchres  about  them  in  the  fixteenth 
plate ;  and  it  was  a  confiderable  time  after  I  left  Egypt,  that  I  imagined 
fome  regularity  might  have  been  defign'd,  if  not  on  building  the  firft  great 
p}  .-amid,  yet  at  fome  time  after,  it  may  be  when  they  began  to  build  the 
iecond  ;  and  where  I  have  fupplied  the  plan  to  make  it  regular,  I  either 
fuppofe  it  to  be  deftroy'd,  or  which  is  more  likely,  that  it  might  be  laid 
down  as  a  plan  by  fome  King,  to  be  executed  by  his  fucceflbrs ;  but  as  all 
this  is  pure  conjecture,  fo  every  one  may  judge  as  he  thinks  proper.  The 
tombs  about  the  great  pyramid  are  diftinguifiYd  from  the  fmall  pyramids 
by  their  not  being  ihaded.  Moft  of  thofe  pyramids  are  very  much  ruin'd, 
and  fome  of  them  I  concluded  to  be  fo  only  from  their  being  fquare, 
higher  than  the  tombs,  and  having  ruins  about  them.  Thefe  tombs  are 
oblong  fquare  folid  buildings  raifed  two  or  three  feet  above  the  ground ; 
and  I  faw  in  fome  of  them  holes  fill'd  up  with  fand,  by  which  without 
doubt  they  defcended  to  the  apartments  where  they  depofited  the  dead. 

"Ef<  It  it,  SsfytVffov  sv  &py.iu$H  toVw  (rtfo^*,        m  ToV        av  ro£^'£oAou  Ti?f  croAEWf  ejtoiVe  suStur 
u'jt    «v£i*wi>  &iv«f   &y.pm    trwjEuii&iw.     Strabo     £k«to*  K,  arevTwcoklet.  Diodorus  I.  I.  p.  46. 

L  xvii.  p.  807.  "  See  note  i. 

Vol.  1.  M  Thefe 


42  OBSERVATIONS 

Thefe  might  be  the  fepulchres  of  the  near  dependants,  or  poffibly  of  fome 
of  the  relations  of  the  Kings,  who  were  buried  in  the  great  pyrami  is ; 
and  it  may  be  the  relations  might  be  buried  under  thefe  fmall  pyramids, 
which  might  be  a  diftindtion  not  permitted  to  any  others.  Thofe  mark'd 
T.  are  only  holes,  being  probably  tombs  they  had  deftroy'd,  and  dug  down 
to  fee  if  they  could  find  any  treafures. 

As  the  pyramids  are  fuppofed  to  have  been  cafed  with  a  hard  ftone  or 
marble  brought  from  the  mountains  of  Arabia,  of  which  there  are  quar- 
ries near  the  Red  fea,  fo  it  muft  have  been  a  work  of  great  labour  to  bring 
Caufeway.    the  materials  to  this  place.    Herodotus  °  obferves  that  they  made  a  caufe- 
way  of  ftone  five  furlongs  in  length,  fifty  feet  broad,  and  in  fome  parts 
forty  feet  high  ;   tho'  this  latter  feems  to  be  a  miftake,   unlefs  any 
bridge  of  that  heighth  in  the  way  may  juftify  our  author's  expreffion, 
who  adds  that  it  was  made  of  polifh'd  ftones  that  were  adorn'd  with  the 
figures  of  beafts,  which  might  be  only  in  fome  particular  parts.     This  he 
thinks  was  a  work  not  much  inferior  to  that  of  building  the  pyramids. 
The  ftones  might  be  convey'd  by  the  canal  that  runs  about  two  miles 
north  of  the  pyramids,  and  from  thence  part  of  the  way  by  this  extraor- 
dinary caufeway  ;  for  at  this  time  there  is  a  caufeway  from  that  part,  ex- 
tending about  a  thoufand  yards  in  length,  and  twenty  feet  wide,  built  of 
hewn  ftone ;  the  length  of  it  agreeing  fo  well  with  the  account  of  Hero- 
dotus, is  a  ftrong  confirmation  that  this  caufeway  has  been  kept  up  ever 
fince,  tho'  fome  of  the  materials  of  it  may  have  been  changed,  all  being 
now  built  with  freeftone.    It  is  ftrengthened  on  each  fide  with  femicircu- 
lar  buttreffes,  about  fourteen  feet  diameter,  and  thirty  feet  apart;  there 
are  fixty-one  of  thefe  buttreffes,  beginning  from  the  north:  Sixty  feet 
further  it  turns  to  the  weft  for  a  little  way,  then  there  is  a  bridge  of  about 
twelve  arches,  twenty  feet  wide,  built  on  peers  that  are  ten  feet  wide. 
Above  one  hundred  yards  further,  there  is  fuch  another  bridge,  beyond 
which  the  caufeway  continues  about  one  hundred  yards  to  the  fouth,  end- 
ing about  a  mile  from  the  pyramids,  where  the  ground  is  higher.  The 
country  over  which  the  caufeway  is  built  being  low,  and  the  water  lying 
on  it  a  great  while,  feems  to  be  the  realbn  for  building  this  caufeway  at 
firft,  and  continuing  to  keep  it  in  repair.    Oppofite  to  it,  if  I  am  not 
miftaken,  there  is  an  eafy  afcent  up  for  the  carriage  of  the  ftone,  as  mark'd 
in  the  plan  at  B.    The  hill  to  the  eaft  of  this,  on  the  north  fide,  is  very 
fteep,  and  it  is  with  the  greateft  difficulty  one  afcends  by  the  way  C.  that 
leads  up  oppofite  to  the  great  pyramid  A.  which  is  at  the  north  eaft  angle 
of  the  hill  B.     Herodotus  fays  it  was  built  by  Cheops,  King  of  Egypt  j 
Diodorus  calls  him  Chemmis  or  Chembes.    The  former  p  fays  it  was  eight 
hundred  Greek  feet  fquare,  the  latter  '  feven  hundred,  Strabo  '  lefs  than 

°  X^o'tov  Si  tyivi&cct  Tg>£oLt£vw  luS  Aaw  JsxoJ  jaIy  q  TV  ex!  t?s  /3*««c  uht^f^v  EKws-tjv  i^n  htAeB-^oj* 

£TE«  Tfr  o'oV,  y.XT  $v  o<Axov  T)if  Ai'08ff  Tijv  tiJ«//«v'  i^yi*  tirlx,  to  SS^as         srAei'w  rm  e£  EffAE^wv  evvxywyry 

iav  si  sroAAw  tsoj  eAojoxov  T*if  ziv&piSoi,  oj'j  ijAoi  SmtHv'  S  ex  tk  x«t*  ahtyav  hx^xvusx  pkxzfi  tjk  xooufsf, 

Trjf  jw'ev  yx$  jui&xor  Efi  stevte  jaAoi'  svfof  St,  Stxx  ixocVifii  sTAtu^y  eetoio*  strawy  s£.  Diodorus  1.  i.  p.  57. 

Of  yijOA'  uvtflf  TJJ    lIJ/ElAoTOITp  Ef)   OWTtJ  EOJUTJJf,  OXTW  1  TftTf  S  oj|<oAoJ  01,  T«f  Si  <»O0  TifTtilV        EV  TOTc  ln\x 

cgyyx*'  a/S-k  te  ^e?k  tij  £oj£ov  iyfiyhvuivm'  rouiry  Si  Sixfold  KanctejtSfjtQvlxt'  etiri  yxg  sxSicuau  to  v4.ar, 

Stj  tx  Stw.x  eteos  ysv£o9-ou,  ^  toji>  eVI  tS  Ao$«,  E7r  x  rflt^ymat  tw  ^-eijuosTi  tij?  srAEvg^?  exosVjic  i4ikoo7  pUfyv 

isxci  at  J^v^tfilSti  rxv  wVo  ym  at^jjuxruv  txs  e7toi£e1o  to  weJ/©-  E^so-iti"  jUixgu  St  ^  ij  it't^cf  Tflc  ETEgcjif  ErJ 

$>jxotf  EWVTW  Ek  vij'o-oj,   Stuguyx  ii  N«Aa  tvxyxym.  /aei'^oj"'  e^oj  S  iv  i?d/«  pEO-wc  uws  Tojf  stAeu^uv  Ai'9-ov 

Herodotus  ii.  c.  124.  i{,x,fts%f.m-  uf$tal&  Si  ei&yi  if)  o*sa,«  pixit  t« 

p  *E?I  zrxvtxy.ij  ptranrov  exalov  c'xtoj  eb-Ae9-^,  ssrHf  irwx>ic'  xinat  p.sy  iv  iyytjs  sthhqhuv  fir}  toj  eUTui  imTt'tSu. 

tdgcfymx  ^  ud-gn  Troy.  Herodotus  1.  ii.  c.  125.       Strabo  ].  1 7.  p.  808. 

fix 


ON  EGYPT. 


fix  hundred,  and  Greaves  meafuring  it  very  exactly,  found  it  to  be  fix 
hundred  ninety- three  Englifh  feet;  fo  that  the  area  takes  up  a  little  more 
than  eleven  acres.  The  perpendicular  height  he  found  to  be  four  hundred 
ninety-nine  feet,  the  inclined  plain  being  equal  to  its  bafis,  the  angles  and 
bafe  making  an  equilateral  triangle.  Greaves  found  the  meafure  at  top 
thirteen  feet,  Diodorus  lays  it  was  nine  feet,  thofe  who  have  made  it  more 
are  not  to  be  credited,  and  it  is  poffible  that  one  tier  of  ftone  may  have 
been  taken  away.  There  are  on  the  top  nine  ftones,  two  being  wanting 
at  the  angles,  and  the  two  upper  fteps  are  not  perfect;  nor  could  I  fee 
any  fign  in  the  middle  of  a  ftatue  having  been  fix'd  there.  The  upper 
tiers  of  ftones  not  being  entire,  I  meafured  two  fteps  below  the  top,  and 
it  was  twenty-fix  feet  on  the  north  fide,  and  thirty  on  the  weft  ;  fo  that 
either  the  pyramid  is  not  fquare,  or  it  inclines  with  a  greater  angle  to 
the  weft  and  eaft,  than  to  the  north  and  fouth.  The  number  of  fteps 
have  been  related  very  differently  ;  from  two  hundred  and  feven,  Greaves's 
number,  to  two  hundred  and  fixty,  the  number  of  Albert  Lewenftein ; 
but  as  Mallet,  who  alfo  was  very  exaft,  counted  two  hundred  and  eight, 
it  is  probable  the  number  of  the  fteps  is  two  hundred  and  feven,  or  eight, 
tho'  I  counted  them  two  hundred  and  twelve.  The  fteps  are  from  two 
feet  and  a  half  to  four  feet  high,  not  being  lb  high  towards  the  top  as  at 
the  bottom,  and  broad  in  proportion  to  their  height,  being  placed,  as 
Greaves  obferves,  fo  as  that  a  line  ftretched  from  the  bottom  to  the  top, 
would  touch  the  angle  of  every  ftep.  The  method  of  afcending  is  by  the 
angle  to  the  north  eaft,  in  order  to  keep  in  a  ftrait  line  ;  and  when  the 
fteps  are  high,  or  fometimes  one  ftep  entirely  broke  away,  they  are  obliged 
to  look  for  a  convenient  place  to  afcend,  where  the  fteps  are  intire,  or  a 
high  ftep  is  a  little  moulder'd  away,  fo  as  to  make  the  afcent  more  eafy. 
It  is  thought  that  this,  as  well  as  the  other  pyramids,  was  cafed  with  a 
finer  ftone  on  the  outfide,  becaufe  it  is  faid  that  not  only  the  mortar  has 
been  feen  in  which  the  ftones  were  fix'd,  but  alfo  fome  pieces  of  white 
marble  flicking  to  the  mortar,  which  they  fuppofe  were  left  on  their  taking 
away  the  ftone  for  fome  other  ufe;  and  this  feems  to  be  intimated  by 
Herodotus,  who  fays  that  this  pyramid  was  built  at  firft  with  fteps;  that 
being  done,  they  raifed  the  ftones  (as  it  muft  be  fuppofed  to  cafe  it)  by 
machines  from  one  ftep  to  another,  not  having  any  longer  a  greater  breadth 
than  a  ftep  to  fix  their  machines  on,  which  muft  have  been  a  great  work. 
In  this  manner  he  fays  they  did  the  upper  part  firft,  and  fo  continued  it 
down,  finilhing  the  lower  part  laft.  *  Pliny  mentions  a  very  extraordinary 
thing  with  regard  to  thefe  pyramids,  and  that  is,  that  fome  men  were  fo 
very  adroit  that  they  could  go  up  to  the  top  of  them;  which  if  they  were 
cafed  with  fuch  hard  fmooth  ftone  as  they  appear  to  have  been,  this  would 
incline  any  one  to  conclude  that  this  ftory  ought  to  be  look'd  on  in  the  fame 
light  as  many  other  extravagant  things  he  mentions ;  for  to  afcend  by  the  fteps 
could  never  have  been  very  difficult,  and  was  probably  what  the  workmen 
did  every  day.   Herodotus  .  fpeaks  of  fubterraneous  apartments  under  the 

*  Sitae  funt  in  parte  Africse,  monte  faxeo  fterilique,  centa  xvi.  hominum  millia  annis  viginti  earn 

inter  Memphim  oppidum  et  quod  appellari  dixi-  conftruxifTe  produntur.     Tres  vero  fa&se  annis 

mns  Delta,  a  Nilo  minus  quatuor  millia  paiTuum,  lexaginta  o£to,  menlibus  quatuor.  PUn.  Nat.  Hijl, 

a  Memphi  fexj  vico  appofito  quam  vocant  Bufiris,  1.  lxvi.  c.  12. 

in  quo  funt  aflueti  fcandere  il las.  Sed  pyramis       '  See  o, 

ampiiflima  ex  Arabicis  lapidicinis  conftat  ;  Tre- 

pyramid, 

3 


44 


OBSERVATIONS 

pyramid,  and  fays  that  the  tomb  was  in  an  ifland  made  by  water  brought 
from  the  Nile  by  a  canal ;  from  which  one  would  conjecture  that  the 
wells  I  fhall  mention  led  to  the  fepulchre,  and  that  the  tomb  which  is  feen 
in  the  large  room,  was  delign'd  for  fome  other  perfon  of  the  royal  family. 

It  may  be  look'd  on  as  a  very  extraordinary  thing,  how  the  entrance 
into  the  pyramid  fhould  be  found  out,  which  it  is  faid  was  an  enterprize 
of  the  Calif  Mahomet,  who  lived  in  the  year  eight  hund»ed  twenty-feven 
of  the  Chriftian  iEra ;  but  without  doubt  this  prince  was  inform'd  of  every 
thing  related  by  antient  authors,  with  regard  to  thefe  extraordinary  build- 
ings, that  they  were  the  fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Egypt,  and  that  as 
Strabo  '  relates,  there  was  in  the  middle  of  the  pyramids  a  ftone  that 
might  be  taken  out  to  open  a  way  to  the  paffage  that  led  to  the  tombs ; 
not  that  it  is  probable  that  they  immediately  found  the  place,  but  having 
meafured  out  the  middle  of  the  pyramid,  they  might  begin  and  work 
lower  ;  all  below  being  cover'd  with  Hones  and  rubbifli :  They  might 
alfo  get  fome  light  by  founding  along  up  the  middle  of  the  pyramid,  in 
order  to  conje&ure  where  the  hollow  paffage  might  be,  or  by  piercing  it 
in  feveral  parts  with  proper  tools. 

For  the  particulars  of  the  infide  of  the  pyramid,  I  refer  to  Mallet's 
account,  which  I  have  added  at  the  latter  end  of  this  volume,  and  to  the 
meafures  below  "  taken  from  Greaves,  as  well  as  my  own  obfervations  and 


See  r. 

An  account  of  the  meafures  of  the  infide  of 
the  great  pyramid  from  Greaves  G.  fup- 
plied  from  Maillet  M.  Sicard  S.  and  my 
own  obfervations  P.  Maillet's  and  Sicard's 
meafures  being  French  feet. 


Feet. 
16 
38 
3 
92 

89 
20 

9 

Sh  5 

I  10 

15 


Steps  to  the  entrance 
Height  to  it 
Wide  and  high 
Long 

Broken  paffage  G. 
Long 
Broad 

Height  to  paffage  H. 
Paffage  H.  wide  and  hi, 
Long 

Landing  place  L.  long 
Paffage  N.  wide  and  high  3 
Long  1 1 o 

Room  O.  long  1 7 

Broad  1 5 

Walls  high  to  the  flope    1 1 
Length  of  the  flope  10 
Diameter  of  well,  above 
Afcent  into  the  gallery 

at  M.  about 
Middle  paffage  broad 

at  M, 
Benches  high  at 
Wide  1 
Whole  breadth  of  gall.  P.  6 
Holes  for  the  feat  at  Q;_ 
Long  1 
Broad  00 
Deep  00 
Diltance  from  one  another  3 


Inches. 


Parts  of 
feet. 

—  G.P. 

—  G. 

—  G. 


00  — 


00  — 


} 


G. 

G. 
G. 

G. 

G. 
.  G. 
.  M. 
-  G. 

M. 

■  M. 

■  S. 
S. 
G. 

M. 


3TT 
TTT 


—  P. 

—  P. 

—  s. 

—  p. 


Feet. 

Twenty-eight  of  thefe 
holes  on  each  fide  S. 
This  gallery  high  26 
Height  of  two  tiers  of  7 
ftone,  to  the  ftone  that  >  5 
fets  in  J 
Each  ftone  fets  out  00 
The  feven  tiers  that  fet7 
out,  each  indepthaboutj  2 
Landing  place  R.  is  of 
the  fame  width.  P. 
Long  5 
High  10 
Paffage  T.  long  8 
Wide  4 
High  4 
Second  room  Y.  wide  4 
Long  6 
Next  paffage  B  B. 
Wide  4 
Long  8 
Great  room  long 
Wide 
High 

Nine  ftones  cover  the  room. 
The  two  next  the  walls  i 

wide  j 
The  reft  wide  4 
Six  tiers  of  ftone  compofe 

the  fides,  being  all  of 

an  equal  breadth. 
The  tomb  long  7 
Wide  3 
Deep  3 
Long  within  6 
Wide  within  2 
Deep  within  2 


Parts  of 
Inches,  feet. 


34 
'7 
'9 


6 

00 


00  — ■ 


00  — 


3i 

3k 
3i 


G. 
P. 

P. 

P. 


P. 
G. 
P. 
P. 
P. 
P. 
P. 

P. 

P. 
G. 
G. 

G. 

M. 
M. 


G. 
G. 
G. 
G. 
G. 
G. 


others, 


ON  EGYPT. 

others,  and  have  given  Mallet's  fe&ion  of  it  in  the  ieventeenth  plate.  I 
have  alfo  added  in  the  fixteenth  plate,  a  plan  of  the  laft  great  gallery  E. 
and  of  the  apartments  it  leads  to,  together  with  a  fection  of  that  gallery 
F.  mark'd  with  the  fame  letters  as  the  great  fection,  in  order  to  give  a 
more  clear  idea  of  it. 

It  is  to  be  obferved  that  the  room  X.  has  pilafters  round  it  fix  inches 
broad,  and  three  feet  apart,  which  could  not  be  reprefented  in  this  fcale. 
Mallet  alfo  fays  that  there  are  but  four  tier  of  ftones  on  the  fides  that  fet 
out  on  each  fide  of  the  gallery  F.  tho'  Greaves  gives  an  account  of  feven, 
and  fo  I  am  almoft  certain  I  number'd  them  myfelf. 

The  fecond  pyramid  D.  has  a  foffee  cut  in  the  rock  to  the  north  and 
weft  of  it,  which  is  about  ninety  feet  wide,  and  thirty  feet  deep  ;  there 
are  fmall  apartments  cut  from  it  into  the  rock,  fome  of  which  are  double, 
a  plan  of  them  may  be  feen  as  reprefented  in  the  fixteenth  plate.  Over 
the  doors,  about  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  are  holes  cut  in  the  rock  as 
to  let  in  the  ends  of  ftones,  which  I  fuppofe  were  for  the  cover  of  a 
portico,  being  laid  on  pillars  that  might  be  before  thefe  apartments. 
Ten  feet  higher,  are  holes  cut  in  like  manner  in  the  rock;  fo  that  thev 
might  have  defign'd  to  make  other  apartments  over  thefe,  cut  likewife  out 
of  the  rock,  and  to  have  a  gallery  before  them  as  below.  It  is  faid  this 
pyramid  was  built  by  Cephrenes,  the  brother  of  Cheops.  Thevenot  af- 
firms that  it  is  fix  hundred  and  thirty-one  French  feet  fquare,  and  Hero- 
dotus "  feems  to  fay  that  it  ftood  on  as  much  ground  as  the  other,  but 
that  it  was  forty  feet  lower;  he  fays  alfo  that  it  had  not  buildings  under 
ground  as  the  firft,  nor  a  channel  to  it  from  the  Nile,  but  that  an  ifland 
was  made  within  it  by  means  of  an  aqueduct,  in  which  lay  the  body  of 
Cheops ;  fo  that  it  is  probable  a  paffage  was  hewn  through  the  rock  to  an 
apartment  cut  likewife  out  of  the  folid  rock,  in  which  this  ifland  might 
be  contrived,  according  to  the  account  that  Herodotus  had.  Strabo  fays 
that  the  height  of  both  the  pyramids  was  a  little  more  than  the  length  of 
the  fides,  which  feems  to  be  a  miftake  for  a  little  lefs  *.  He  fays  they 
were  both  of  the  fame  height,  and  fo  they  feem'd  to  me  when  I  was  at 
the  top  of  the  great  one  ;  but  he  adds  that  one  was  a  little  lefs  than 
the  other,  which  might  be,  if  we  fuppofe  one  to  have  a  more  eafy  afcent 
than  the  other.  The  account  of  Strabo  feems  to  be  the  more  probable, 
the  fecond  pyramid  appearing  fteeper  than  the  other.  It  was  completely 
finifh'd  on  the  outfide,  tho'  ruin'd  in  feveral  places;  and  a  hole  has  been 
made  fome  way  up,  as  to  find  an  entrance  on  the  north  fide.  Herodotus 
alfo  obferves,  that  the  firft  tier  of  ftone  was  of  iEthiopic  marble,  that  is 
granite;  this  probably  was  the  loweft  tier,  or  the  bale  of  the  pyramid. 
And  Diodorus  *  fays  there  were  fteps  cut  in  the  fide  of  this  pyramid, 
which  might  be  contrived  in  the  middle,  by  not  filling  up  the  fteps  there, 
and  by  making  two  fteps  of  one,  as  was  the  practice  in  the  afcents  they 

tcu  uSihOiiit  mjtS  Xe^Suk'  k,  t£tov  Je  tw  ou/'tw  TgoVw     jWfy«A>jf  oiKoSepn'  sjairi  Je  eVJ  Ao'cft;  t£  (U/'ts  a[A$a- 

^'«XC^0&a"TWET£§W-  T«T£«AA«,  «,  UV  (^l  j^iSd  UOiKCDU,       ll^M,  [ACtAl^St  EJ    SX«T0»    SToJ*?    It\|/ljft2.  Het"OdotUS 

iff       t«  ixiirn  p'T^  ax  awt;WaV  t«utm  y«§  m  ^    1.  U.  C.  127, 

rptH f  ipfyfoaptr'  are  vz-es-i  o»xv'p«I«  fa&  y$v,  «t6  *  This  is  an  error  that  might  eafily  be  made, 
ek     NrtA».Ji(.>^u|       6f  aj-r>)v,  iWsf  ii  tiic  m^tji,    by  putting  pei^uv  for 

Stoiv-ch^fAiw  S\  ctuhu*@r  tVat,  vtjffou  TZi^im'  x  'Ava'£«in»  tf'  t^ei  cW  pictf  Twy  STAeugwv  tyxEicoAajW- 
h  Ttj  owtoV  htyxat  mo&«  Xso7r«"    uVoJefftcef        toV     pivw.     Diodorus  1.  i.  p.  58. 

Vol.  I.  N  made 


O  B  S  ERVA  T IONS 


made  in  the  antient  theatres.  According  to  my  obfervations,  the  cafing 
of  this  pyramid  did  not  projed  beyond  the  angle  of  the  fteps,  as  it  did  in 
thofe  beyond  Sacara,  but  was  executed  as  reprefented  in  the  fixteenth  plate. 
I  obferved  that  on  the  north  and  eaft  fides,  the  upper  part  of  the  pyra- 
mid was  entire  for  forty  or  fifty  feet  down  from  the  top,  as  I  conjectured, 
and  the  ftone  feem'd  to  fet  further  out  for  near  a  hundred  teet  from  the 
top  than  it  does  below,  which  I  could  not  account  for. 

Towards  the  fouth  eaft  corner  of  this  pyramid,  there  are  fome  grottos 
tut  in  the  rock,  and  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics ;  and  to  the  eaft  of  it 
there  are  remains  of  walls,  which  probably  may  be  what  a  certain  author 
calls  a  temple,  before  the  fecond  pyramid;  there  being  more  vifible  re- 
mains before  the  third  pyramid,  which  feem  to  be  the  ruins  of  a  tem- 
ple. 

Directly  in  the  front  of  the  fecond  pyramid,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
to  the  eaft  of  it,  is  the  famous  fphynx  H.  about  half  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  water  when  the  Nile  overflows,  being  on  much  lower  ground 
than  the  pyramids.  Here  feems  to  have  been  the  grand  way  up  to  thefe 
magnificent  ftructures ;  the  other  I  mention'd  having  been  probably  made 
for  the  conveniency  of  carrying  the  ftone  up  to  the  great  pyramid. 

The  rock  feems  to  have  been  dug  away  all  round  the  fphynx  for  a  great 
way,  and  the  ftone  was  doubtlefs  employ'd  in  building  the  pyramids,  the 
fphynx  being  cut  out  of  the  folid  rock  ;  for  what  has  been  taken  by  fome 
to  be  joynings  of  the  ftone,  is  only  veins  in  the  rock.  This  extraordinary 
monument  is  faid  to  have  been  the  fepulchre  of  Amafis,  tho'  I  think  it 
is  mention'd  by  none  of  the  antient  authors,  except  Pliny  *.  I  found  by 
the  quadrant  that  it  is  about  twenty-feven  feet  high,  the  neck  and  head 
only  being  above  ground  ;  the  lower  part  of  the  neck,  or  the  beginning  of 
the  breaft  is  thirty-three  feet  wide,  and  it  is  twenty  feet  from  the  fore  part 
of  the  neck  to  the  back,  and  thence  to  the  hole  in  the  back  it  is  feventy- 
five  feet,  the  hole  being  five  feet  long,  from  which  to  the  tail,  if  I 
miflake  not,  it  is  thirty  feet ;  which  fomething  exceeds  Pliny's  account, 
who  fays  that  it  is  a  hundred  and  thirteen  feet  long.  The  fand  is  rilen 
up  in  fuch  a  manner  that  the  top  of  the  back  only  is  feen;  fome  perfons 
have  lately  got  to  the  top  of  the  head,  where  they  found  a  hole,  which 
probably  ferved  for  the  arts  of  the  priefts  in  uttering  oracles;  as  that  in 
the  back  might  be  to  defcend  to  the  apartments  beneath. 

A  little  to  the  weft  north  weft  of  the  fphynx  is  a  fmall  ruin'd  pyra- 
mid F.  as  I  concluded  it  to  be;  a  way  had  been  open'd  into  it,  but  every 
thing  now  is  almoft  ruin'd.  I  faw  in  it  two  handfome  high  door  places 
oppofite  to  one  another,  the  fpace  between  them  being  only  five  feet  j 
over  them  are  hieroglyphics,  among  which  I  faw  the  Ibis  and  flags.  Op- 
pofite to  this  pyramid,  on  the  other  fide  of  the  valley  to  the  fouth,  is 
fuch  another  K.  which  feem'd  to  have  been  built  with  fteps,  and  eaft  of 

*  Ante  has  eft  fphynx,  vel  magis  miranda,  Myaccount  makes  the  fphynx  one  hundred  and 

quafi  fylveftre  numen  accolentium.   Amafin  re-  thirty  feet  long,  that  is  about  feventeen  feet  more 

gem  putant  in  ea  condittim,  et  volunt  invedtam  than  Pliny.    He  fays  it  was  fixry-three  feet  high, 

videri.  Eft  autem  faxo  naturali  elaborata  et  lubrica.  probably  taking  in  a  plinth  that  might  be  cut  out 

Capitis  monftri  ambitus  per  frontem  centum  duos  under  it ;  fo  that  about  thirty- fix  feet  muft  be  bu- 

pedes  colligit,  longitudo  pedum  cxm.  eft,  al-  ried  in  the  land, 
titudo  a  ventre  ad  fummum  apicem  in  capite 
txni.    Plin.  Nat.  Hifi.  1.  xxxvi.  c.  12. 

it 


ON  EGYPT. 


it  is  another  L.  erected  on  a  foundation  of  rock,  fifteen  feet  high  ;  it 
feem'd  to  have  been  built  up  higher  only  with  a  thick  wall  about  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  fquare.  The  firft  of  thefe  pyramids,  from  the  defcrip- 
tion  of  Herodotus  \  feems  to  be  that  which  he  imagined  was  built  by  the 
daughter  of  Cheops,  who  proftituted  herfelf  in  obedience  to  her  father. 
The  grand  way  up  to  the  fecond  pyramid,  as  has  been  obferved,  feems 
to  have  been  from  the  fphynx,  and  turning  there  to  the  right  and  left,  it 
might  join  two  ways  coming  from  the  weft  :  What  I  took  for  the  foun- 
dation of  a  wall,  might  be  fome  remains  of  that  to  the  north;  the  way 
towards  the  fouth  is  a  caufeway  made  of  great  ftones  eleven  paces  wide, 
and  leading  up  to  the  temple  M.  which  is  before  the  third  pyramid  N. 
The  ftones  employ 'd  in  building  the  temple  are  fix  feet  broad  and  deep, 
which  is  the  thicknefs  of  the  walls;  and  moft  of  them  are  fixteen  or 
feventeen  feet  long,  and  fome  twenty-two,  as  is  reprefented  in  the  fame 
plate,  the  whole  building  being  a  hundred  and  fixty  feet  deep,  and  a 
hundred  and  eighty  in  front.  To  the  eaft  of  it  is  the  third  pyramid  N. 
faid  to  be  built  by  Mycerinus.  Herodotus "  fpeaks  of  it  as  three  hundred 
feet  fquare ;  I  meafured  it  at  the  top  fourteen  feet  on  the  north  fide,  and 
twelve  on  the  eaft,  and  counting  feventy-eight  fteps,  at  one  foot  nine 
inches  broad,  it  amounts  to  about  this  number  of  feet.  Our  author  af- 
firms that  it  was  built  half  way  up  with  Ethiopian  marble,  that  is  cafed 
with  it ;  Diodorus  mentions  fifteen  tier,  fo  that  computing  each  tier  on 
the  outfide  to  be  five  feet  deep,  as  I  found  them,  that  will  amount  to 
feventy-five  feet,  which  anfwers  within  fix  feet  of  the  height,  com- 
puted at  one  hundred  fifty-fix  feet,  fuppofing  the  fteps  to  be  two  feet 
high.  On  this  account  Strabo  fays  it  was  as  expenfive  a  work  as  the 
others;  all  round  it  are  remains  of  the  granite  it  was  adorn'd  with,  which 
has  been  pull'd  down,  and  great  part  of  it  carried  away  :  I  faw  however 
two  ftones  remaining  in  their  places,  about  five  feet  deep.  To  the  fouth 
of  this  are  three  fmall  pyramids  O.  the  two  weftern  ones  are  about  eighty- 
feven  feet  fquare  ;  they  are  built  with  three  degrees  ten  feet  broad,  each 
of  them  confifting  of  three  tier  of  ftone  four  or  five  feet  deep,  that  fet 
out  about  a  foot,  as  reprefented  in  an  upright  of  one  of  them  O.  In  the 
fame  plate  at  P.  the  eaftern  pyramid  is  a  hundred  feet  fquare,  being  what 
is  commonly  call'd  the  fourth  pyramid. 

Thefe  feem  to  be  the  three  pyramids  mention'd  by  Diodorus  immedi- 
ately after  the  third,  as  built  for  the  wives  of  the  three  Kings,  the  fuccef- 
fors  of  Mycerinus.    I  cannot  but  mention  a  conjecture  that  has  alfo  been 


y  'E;  tSto  <Te  iA9iTu  Xsotos  kkkotJ&,  wVe  -n:*  &u- 
ya'iegt  TIJI  swvtJ,  ;y£tjjWflCTfdv  (Ffouevav,  x«TiVav7oe  171 
ity.r^a}®'-,  ttfgGra'lat  ar^ij&TEcS-flo*  &"yv&G1  c'jcocroi'  St  Ti" 
ii  J/«3  <?«  TSTCi'j/E  EA£J<0V.  TflvJs,  TOO  TE  U/TO  T8  nrofjooj 
Tee^Eilas  wgr,ost£rx*'  Ufa  SI  k)  «^TJ|W  Jiwo*i3iivx* 
pvKfostruvav  xoLlaKiirit&OA'    Kj  ts?  Emon^*  sr^oc  cwi*iu 

SKKfl?  Sii&OU  OKWf  «V  OwVij  tUt  Jt&dV  60  TOlW  EOyOlO"! 
OOJ^SOllo*  £K  TSiTWV  l?£  TW11    hl^UV  tQizrciV  STUf^tAlJiS 

oV-a^ii^i-aw,  t>;v  h  fitew  tojv  T&iwf  EfSfljcijoiv,  £/47roo- 
c&EV  Tljo  ftEJ-MAtj;  w&y.iS®'  Tt-f  TO  kwAov  txocsov  oAtf 

kj  i/ijn&  aA&fir.  Herodotus  1.  ii.  c.  126. 

1  nu£yui3a  <Je  k,  ii®-  «VeAi'se1o  EffoAAoV  eA«'oo-£o 
iS  ualfof,  EEijtOffj  aroefwv  xdlalixo-ctv,  xwAov  txusov 
T£>OJV   IStAE^OJV    EXff^f  Ttl^tyovH'  h&il        EC    TO  jj^/ffW 

'Ai$ia?n*x.  Herodotus  1.  ii.  c.  134. 


Alf  0T££OJ    (T  Berjv  £0    XJ^iH  t^Ol'^OVI  T?C    OgetWtf   >J  T&tTtJ 

jffoAv  eAootIwl'  too7u  tfvoiV,  aroAu  dl  pet£av(&'  Jaaroevij? 

XxllGMVUG-pii'/il'   CX7T0  ydg   $£^£A(£0V  fliCX  tfcdov, 

•tihU"©*  Ai'3s  hh,  s£  k  n)  rais  Svix;  xos7a[rx£uocTi'£«[ri 
xo^ovIec  zjsfp-cSlv  «7To  tojv  T>)f  Al&l07n«c  OgWV,  Of  TOJ 
trxAEifJoc  eiifa*      Jvcy.dtgyu7&y  sroAolEAfl  rm  u^y- 

]wo!th«v  sr«e/£^E.  Strabo  I.  xvii.  p.  808. 

HvgJiplSx  XT®*  ^'E7rlGolAo'^EV©J  T^Tflll  KxIcifflCtV- 
OO^OIV,  WfOTE^OV  ETEAEOTfjTEV  ^JTEP  TO  S^yoV  eAoo£e  (TUV- 
TEA««V  T>if  jj.h  yug  /30CO-£0Jf   EX0(?»tV  EtfAEU^V  uVe^ Ytfa\o 

arAtS-geou  Tg/iooii,  vis  £i  toi'^s?  ejt)  ^^ixcuhnct  ^pcist 
y.alEo-xEuacrEt  ex  tt£Aoio!t^.  Ai^S)  T(u  QtjQixiKM  vstngynXwU, 

Diodorus  1.  1.  p,  5S. 


made 


OBSERVATIONS 


made  by  others,  which  will  make  the  labour  that  was  beftow'd  on  the 
pyramids  much  lefs  than  is  imagined  ;  and  that  is,  that  they  might  take 
the  advantage  of  building  round  a  hill  when  they  begun  a  pyramid;  and 
if  this  is  probable,  the  great  pyramid  might  be  built  about  two  rocky 
hills  ;  the  prefent  entrance  probably  on  the  top  of  one,  and  the  grand 
room  which  has  the  tomb  in  it  on  the  top  of  the  other  ;  and  the  paffage 
and  room  under,  might  be  cut  out  on  the  fide  of  the  hill,  tho'  at  fome 
diftance  from  the  outfide  of  it ;  which  is  the  more  probable,  if  we  fup- 
pofe,  as  I  fhall  after  obferve,  that  the  firft  invention  of  pyramids  might 
be  owing  to  the  cafing  of  fmall  hills  with  flone.  I  went  twice  to  thefe 
famous  monuments,  and  I  enter'd  as  often  into  the  great  pyramid.  The 
firft  time  I  was  in  company  with  fome  Englifh  and  French,  and  attended 
by  the  Caimacam,  or  governor  of  Gizeh.  They  had  fent  out  great 
plenty  of  provifions,  and  I  could  not  but  take  particular  notice  of  the 
leflbn  of  hofpitality  the  governor  taught  them,  by  diftributing  about  to 
all  the  Arabs  of  the  good  fare  they  had  brought,  even  before  he  had  ferved 
himfelf.  The  fecond  time  I  went  out  was  with  the  conful,  and  moft  of 
the  Englifh,  when  we  went  round  by  the  bridges,  and  faw  a  great  num- 
ber of  wild  fowl  all  over  the  waters.  We  pitch'd  a  tent  in  the  plain, 
about  half  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  pyramids ;  the  people  of  the  neigh- 
bouring village  came  and  fat  round,  and  had  contrived  to  take  away  a  gar- 
ment that  belong'd  to  us,  and  carried  it  to  their  village  ;  but  when  it 
was  miffing,  and  we  threatned  to  make  complaint  to  their  landlord,  who 
was  one  of  the  Beys,  if  they  did  not  go  to  the  village  in  fearch  of  it,  and 
return  it,  they  went  off  and  brought  it  back.  It  was  this  fecond  time 
that  I  went  alone  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  firft  well  in  the  pyramid, 
having  prepared  a  lanthorn  to  let  down  to  the  bottom  of  each  well,  that 
I  might  fee  how  far  I  had  to  defcend ;  but  none  of  the  Arabs  would  go 
down  with  me.  The  method  of  defcending  is  by  the  holes  in  the  fide 
to  fet  the  feet  in,  which  were  much  broken ;  fo  that  'twas  very  difficult, 
being  obliged  to  reft  much  on  the  arms.  I  fliould  however  have  cer- 
tainly gone  down  as  far  as  I  could,  even  alone,  if  I  had  not  been  in- 
difpofed  by  a  caufe  fo  far  diftant  as  drinking  the  waters  of  Aleppo  half 
a  year  before;  of  which  I  fhall  have  occafion  to  fay  more  in  another 
place. 


CHAP.  VI. 

Of  the  Catacombs  and  Pyramids  of  Saccara. 

TH  O'  the  pyramids  and  catacombs  of  Saccara  are  not  ten  miles  from 
thofe  of  Gizeh,  yet  the  common  way  is  to  go  from  Cairo  for  five 
miles  along  the  eaft  fide  of  the  river,  to  the  convent  of  St.  George,  where 
croffing  the  Nile,  the  road  pafles  by  Mocanan  and  Metrahenny ;  the  laft 
place  is  three  or  four  miles  from  Saccara.  Between  Metrahenny  and  Sac- 
cara, I  paffed  over  a  canal  on  a  large  bridge  of  four  arches;  this  is  called 
the  weftern  canal. 


It 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  49 

It  was  on  my  return  from  Faiume  that  I  went  to  Saccara,  going  out  of 
the  dire£t  road  to  Cairo,  foon  after  we  had  paffed  the  fandy  deferts ;  and 
travelling  about  five  miles  north  weft,  we  came  to  Dafhour,  where  there  Daftour. 
is  a  cane,  in  which  there  are  public  harlots,  who  are  profefTed  Mahome- 
tans, as  I  was  inform'd  they  are  alfo  in  many  other  parts.  Thefe  wo- 
men are  always  unveil'd  ;  and  knowing  that  we  were  Europeans,  they 
came  and  ftared  at  us,  and  were  very  impudent,  infomuch  that  my  fcr- 
vant  was  obliged  to  drive  them  away.  From  this  place  we  travelled  a- 
long  by  the  weftern  canal,  and  after  two  miles  we  came  to  a  village 
call'd  Elmenfhieh  Dafhour,  being  oppofite  to  the  great  pyramid  to  the 
fouth ;  the  pyramid  built  of  brick  being  in  a  line  with  Dafhour.  We  foon 
after  came  to  the  fandy  defert,  having  the  large  canal  to  the  eaft  of  us ; 
we  after  paffed  between  the  melon  gardens,  and  came  to  a  wood  of 
Acacia  trees,  which  extends  about  a  mile  north  to  the  groves  of  palm  trees 
that  are  near  Saccara,  which  is  a  poor  village  at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  Saccara. 
Having  letters  of  recommendation,  I  went  to  the  houfe  of  the  Sheik,  who 
according  to  cuftom,  fet  of  their  fare  before  us,  and  promifed  after  he 
had  been  at  the  moftjue  at  noon,  it  being  friday,  to  go  with  me  to  the 
pyramids  that  were  near.  Accordingly  we  went  half  a  mile  to  the  fouth, 
there  being  a  fmall  lake  on  that  part  of  the  town.  We  came  to  a  caufe- 
way  made  of  great  ftones  thirty-five  feet  wide,  leading  weftward  up  the 
hills ;  it  is  mark'd  S.  in  the  eighteenth  plate.  This  day  and  the  two  fol- 
lowing I  made  the  obfervations,  in  which  I  am  the  more  exad>,  as  few 
perfons  have  delcribed  any  thing  particularly  here  except  the  catacombs. 
The  afcent  is  fhort  to  a  fandy  plain,  that  may  extend  four  or  five  miles  to 
higher  hills.  I  have  given  a  view  of  the  plain,  and  a  plan  of  the  pyra- 
mids in  the  eighteenth  plate.  The  pyramids  are  built  from  north  to  fouth  Pyramids  of 
along  the  brow  of  the  hill,  extending  from  the  three  northern  ones  C.  Saccara- 
which  are  three  or  four  miles  from  Saccara,  for  eight  or  nine  miles  to  the 
lbuth.  About  half  a  mile  eaft  of  the  pyramid  F.  that  appears  at  a  di- 
ftance  to  be  built  with  great  fteps,  is  a  little  defccnt  to  a  fort  of  a  round 
plain  T.  with  a  rifing  in  the  middle;  bones  and  (kulls  are  feen  almoft  all 
over  this  fpot,  under  which  are  the  catacombs  of  the  mummies,  extend- 
ing near  to  this  pyramid,  the  whole  country  being  a  rocky  foil,  cover'd 
over  with  fand  five  or  fix  feet  deep.  About  half  a  mile  to  the  north  of 
the  fame  pyramid,  are  the  catacombs  of  the  birds  B.  In  this  part  I  found 
about  the  fands  many  of  thofe  little  earthen  ftatues  of  Oliris,  that  are 
cover'd  with  a  fort  of  green  enamel  or  paint.  I  faw  here  feveral  heaps  of 
ruins,  and  a  fort  of  foffee  which  goes  all  round  to  the  fouth  of  Saccara $ 
fo  that  probably  this  place  was  formerly  enclofed. 

The  three  pyramids  C.  are  three  or  four  miles  further  to  the  north ; 
they  feem  to  be  about  the  fize  of  the  third  pyramid  of  Gize,  and  are  on 
a  height  extending  rather  more  to  the  eaft  than  the  other  hills.  As 
there  is  nothing  remarkable  in  them,  fo  travellers  never  go  to  them.  Be- 
tween thefe  pyramids  and  thofe  of  Gize,  the  hills  retire  and  make  a  fort 
of  a  femicircle.  Here  I  imagined  I  faw  feveral  ruins,  and  poffibly  this 
might  be  the  part  of  Memphis  that  extended  up  to  the  defert.  To  the 
fouth  eaft  of  thefe  catacombs  of  the  birds,  I  faw  the  ruin'd  pyramid  D. 
about  fixty  feet  fquare ;  and  further  fouth,  fome  fquare  monuments  E. 
that  might  have  been  fmall  pyramids.    Near  thefe  is  the  pyramid  F.  call'd 

Vol.  I.  O  by 


OBSERVATIONS 

by  the  Arabs  the  pyramid  with  fteps.  I  omitted  to  meafiire  it  any  other- 
wife  than  by  paces ",  by  which  I  computed  the  meafure  to  be  three  hun- 
dred feet  to  the  north,  and  two  hundred  feventy-five  to  the  eaft ;  and  I 
found  that  moft  of  thefe  pyramids  are  broader  one  way  than  the  other. 
This  is  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  confifting  of  fix  fteps  or  degrees, 
eleven  feet  broad,  and  twenty-five  feet  deep  in  the  perpendicular,  being,  I 
fuppofe,  thirty-five  in  the  inclined  plain  on  fome  of  the  fides,  as  I  find  I 
meafured  it  in  fome  parts  ;  for  the  front  of  the  degrees  is  an  inclined  plain. 
As  it  is  much  ruin'd  at  the  angles,  I  afcended  at  the  north  eaft  angle, 
and  defcended  by  the  north  weft  ;  it  meafured  at  top  twenty-two  feet  fix 
inches  to  the  eaft,  and  fifty  feet  fix  inches  to  the  north,  which  muft  be 
accounted  for  by  its  inclining  with  a  different  angle  one  way  from  what  it 
does  the  other.  The  outfide  cafing  is  of  hewn  ftone,  twenty  tier  to  each 
degree,  each  tier  being  one  foot  three  inches  deep.  The  building  within 
is  of  fmall  thin  ftones,  and  the  yellow  gravelly  mortar  is  fix  inches  thick 
between  them.  There  are  two  holes  broken  in  on  the  fouth  fide,  as  re- 
prefented  in  the  nineteenth  plate  at  F.  On  the  fame  fide,  three  quarters 
of  the  lower  degree  is  broken  away,  and  on  the  north  fide  the  loweft 
degree  is  intirely  gone  ;  and  on  the  eaft  fide  the  ground  is  rifen  up  to  the 
height  of  the  firft  degree.  Near  this  pyramid  I  faw  many  pieces  of  a  fort 
of  red  and  yellow  marble. 

The  pyramid  G.  in  the  eighteenth  plate,  to  the  fouth  weft,  appears  round 
at  top;  and  there  are  three  or  four  built  in  the  fame  manner  towards  the  firft 
entrance  on  the  hills  from  the  caufeway ;  one  of  them  H.  meafured  a  hun- 
dred feet  to  the  eaft  and  weft,  and  eighty  to  the  north  and  fouth ;  another 
I.  is  of  the  fame  dimenfions  one  way,  and  only  ninety  feet  wide  on  the 
eaft  fide.  This  latter  has  fome  great  ftones  remaining  towards  the  top, 
but  there  are  none  about  the  other;  this  as  well  as  lbme  others,  feems  to 
have  been  fill'd  up  in  the  middle  with  fmall  ftones  and  fand  ;  on  each 
fide  the  entrance  are  two  fmaller,  K  L  :  Thefe  latter  do  not  look  like  py- 
ramids, but  more  like  hillocks  cafed  with  ftone ;  fo  that  it  is  probable 
either  that  the  original  of  pyramids  was  owing  to  the  cafing  with  ftone  fuch 
raifed  grounds  that  they  threw  up  in  memory  of  their  dead,  or  that  thefe 
hillocks  in  the  northern  parts,  were  a  barbarous  imitation  of  pyramids; 
and  as  in  Syria  there  are  fome  not  very  fmall  cafed  with  ftone,  that  at 
prefent  have  caftles  built  on  them,  it  is  poflible  they  might  firft  have 
been  made  in  honour  of  fome  great  men,  and  afterwards  be  converted 
to  another  ufe.  Going  near  two  miles  to  the  fouth,  and  eroding  over  a 
little  height  which  runs  from  eaft  to  weft,  we  came  to  the  imperfect 
pyramid  N.  call'd  Muftabait-el-Pharaone,  or  the  feat  of  Pharaoh,  on 
which  the  Arabs  fay  the  Kings  of  Egypt  promulged  their  laws ;  it  is 
two  hundred  feventy-three  feet  wide  to  the  north,  and  two  hundred  and 
eight  to  the  eaft  ;  at  prefent  it  is  forty-fix  feet  high,  all  the  fteps  fetting 
in  a  foot,  except  the  third  from  the  bottom,  which  fets  in  ten  feet ;  it  is 
built  of  large  mouldering  ftones,  full  of  fhells,  they  are  feven  feet  long, 
and  of  the  fame  depth  as  the  fteps,  that  is,  four  feet  fix  inches ;  a  view 

3  Tho'  I  was  guilty  of  a  great  omifiion  in  not    an  account  of  thefe  imperfect  obfervations,  in  the 
being  more  exa£t  in  thefe  meafures,  as  well  as    manner  I  made  them,  than  to  pats  them  over  in 
fome  others,  in  relation  to  which  I  mail  always    filence,  that  others  may  be  induced  hereafter  to 
mention  in  what  manner  I  took  the  meafures,  if  give  a  more  exact  account. 
I  was  not  exaft ;  yet  I  thought  it  better  to  give 

of 


ON  EGYPT. 


of  it  may  be  feen  in  the  nineteenth  plate  G.  To  the  weft  north  weft  of  it 
there  is  a  fmall  raifed  pyramid  G.  in  the  eighteenth  plate,  being  about  two 
hundred  feet  fquare:  Near  weft  of  it  is  the  ruin'd  pyramid  O.  From  this 
place  we  went  two  miles  to  the  great  pyramid  P.  call'd  Il-Herem-Elkebere- 
El-Barieh,  the  great  pyramid  to  the  north.  As  there  are  heaps  of  ftone  round 
the  pyramid  that  has  fcaled  off,  and  I  had  no  inftruments  to  take  the  level, 
fo  I  was  obliged  to  meafure  the  pyramid  at  a  diftance,  by  beginning  oppo- 
fite  to  the  angles,  which  muft  be  acknowledged  not  to  be  lb  certain  ; 
but  in  this  manner  I  meafured  feven  hundred  and  ten  feet  to  the  north, 
and  fix  hundred  and  ninety  to  the  eaft;  but  pacing  it,  the  meafure  came 
out  on  the  north  fide  only  fix  hundred  fixty-two  feet  and  a  half,  fo  that 
poffibly  there  might  be  fome  miftake ;  tho'  the  north  fide  meafured  on  the 
top  twenty  feet,  and  the  eaft  fide  only  fifteen ;  which  inclines  me  to 
think  that  the  meafure  I  took  is  pretty  exact,  that  makes  the  north  fide 
the  broader.  There  are  a  hundred  and  fifty-fix  fteps  from  three  to  two 
feet  high ;  the  lower  fteps  being  about  three  feet,  the  others  moftly  two, 
and  about  two  feet  broad.  By  the  quadrant  I  found  it  to  be  about  three 
hundred  forty-five  feet  high,  which  would  be  the  height  at  a  middle  com- 
putation of  two  feet  four  inches  to  each  ftep.  The  pyramid  by  the  mea- 
fure at  top,  fecms  to  incline  with  a  more  acute  angle  to  the  north  and 
fouth,  than  it  does  to  the  eaft  and  weft,  where  the  fteps  may  be  broader, 
fo  that  this  pyramid  is  probably  as  big  as  the  great  one  at  Gize ;  for  com- 
puting the  fteps  to  be  only  two  feet  broad,  tho'  I  fuppofe  fome  of  them 
muft  be  more  to  the  eaft  and  weft,  the  north  fide  will  be  fix  hundred 
forty-four  feet,  according  to  this  computation :  And  a  traveller  who  feems 
to  mean  this  pyramid,  which  he  calls  the  pyramid  of  Rhodope,  and  the 
largeft  of  the  fifteen  this  way,  probably  took  his  meafures  by  computing 
the  fteps,  who  fays  it  is  fix  hundred  forty-two  feet  (quare,  and  three  hun- 
dred twenty-feven  high,  and  mentions  a  hundred  and  forty-eight  fteps  ,- 
but  as  thefe  are  French  feet,  it  may  bring  the  meafures  pretty  near  to  thole 
I  have  given.  The  ftones  of  the  cafing  are  fix  feet  long,  and  fo  project 
about  four  feet.  Thefe  ftones  I  found  to  be  two  feet  ten  inches  in  the 
inclined  plain,  where  they  were  two  feet  fix  inches  thick. 

It  is  to  be  obferved  that  the  fteps  of  the  fecond  pyramid  of  Gize  being 
fill'd  up,  as  reprefented  in  the  fixteenth  plate,  that  manner  of  finifhing 
the  work  was  moft  convenient,  as  they  begun  it  at  top;  but  as  they  might 
after  find  it  more  commodious  to  begin  the  cafing  at  bottom,  this  method 
of  laying  the  ftone,  fo  as  to  project  four  feet  beyond  the  fteps,  might  be 
judged  a  more  proper  way,  both  as  it  made  a  larger  platform  to  work  on, 
and  to  raife  the  materials,  and  alfo  as  the  ftones  laid  in  this  manner  would 
more  effectually  bind  one  another. 

This  pyramid  is  built  of  the  lame  freeftone  as  the  others,  but  cafed 
with  a  fine  hard  ftone,  the  outward  cover  remaining  in  feveral  parts,  as 
appears  in  the  views  in  the  nineteenth  plate.  A.  is  the  weft  fide,  B.  the 
eaft,  C.  the  north  ;  the  ground  is  raifed  much  on  the  north  fide,  and  alfo 
on  the  eaft,  but  leaft  of  all  on  the  weft.  At  fome  diftance  to  the  fouth 
and  weft  the  ground  is  hollow,  as  it  is  to  the  north  and  weft  of  the  great 
pyramid  fouth  of  it ;  out  of  thefe  places,  they  probably  dug  the  ftone  to 
build  the  pyramids. 


On 


OBSERVATIONS 

On  the  north  fide,  about  a  third  of  the  way  up,  is  an  entrance  three 
feet  five  inches  wide,  and  four  feet  two  inches  deep ;  the  ftones  within 
are  of  the  height  and  breadth  of  the  entrance,  and  about  five  feet  long. 
I  went  into  the  pyramid  by  this  paffage,  which  is  fteep,  and  has  holes  cut 
as  refts  for  the  feet.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  we  made  our  way  for 
the  laft  twenty-five  feet,  the  paffage  being  almoft  fill'd  up  with  fand. 
At  the  end  I  came  into  a  room  twenty-two  feet  and  a  half  long,  and 
eleven  feet  ten  inches  broad  ;  at  the  height  of  ten  feet  fix  inches,  a  tier 
of  ftones  fet  in  on  each  fide  five  inches,  and  in  the  fame  manner  twelve 
tiers  one  over  another;  fo  as  that  the  top  either  ends  in  a  point,  or  as  I  ra- 
ther conjecture,  it  may  be  about  a  foot  broad  :  To  the  weft  of  this  room  is 
fuch  another ;  and  in  both  at  the  further  end,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
and  fixth  tiers  of  ftone  from  the  top,  is  a  door,  each  of  which  leads  to  a 
fmall  room,  as  I  was  inform'd  by  a  gentleman  who  contrived  a  ladder  in 
order  to  get  up  to  them.  Thefe  rooms  are  of  a  fmooth  white  ftone ;  and 
nothing  can  be  imagined  finer  than  the  workmanfhip  of  them,  being  all 
of  large  ftone.  There  are  only  feven  in  length,  and  three  or  four  in 
width.  At  the  joining  of  the  ftones,  there  is  a  little  channel  half  an 
inch  broad,  making  an  angle  like  the  members  of  a  trigliph  in  the  Do- 
ric order  :  The  plan  D.  and  a  feftion  of  them  E.  may  be  feen  in  the 
twentieth  plate.  About  a  mile  to  the  fouth  eaft  is  another  great  pyramid 
call'd,  The  great  pyramid  to  the  fouth,  (Il-Herem-El-Kieber-El-Koubli) 
which  is  lefs  than  the  other :  Meafuring  it  as  I  did  the  other,  I  found  it 
was  on  the  north  fide  five  hundred  and  ninety  feet  wide,  on  the  eaft  fix 
hundred  ;  and  pacing  it,  the  meafure  on  this  fide  came  out  exactly  the 
fame,  and  on  the  north  fix  hundred  and  five  feet ;  fo  that  it  is  probable 
this  pyramid  is  fix  hundred  feet  fquare  j  and  the  height  of  it  is  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  feet.  What  is  very  particular,  it  feems  to  incline 
with  a  greater  angle  from  the  height  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  feet  than 
it  does  below ;  for  this  pyramid  feems  to  have  been  cafed  all  the  way  up, 
and  is  built  of  very  good  hewn  ftone  even  within,  as  I  obferved  in  fome 
places  where  it  is  broke  away  ;  for  it  is  ruin'd  in  many  parts,  but  not  fo 
as  that  any  one  can  go  up  to  the  top.  The  lower  parts  are  much  deftroy'd 
on  all  fides,  and  yet  it  would  be  very  difficult  and  dangerous  to  go  up  to 
a  hole  that  feems  to  lead  to  a  paffage  that  is  not  open,  which  is  at  the 
height  of  twelve  tier  from  the  ground  ;  and  I  obferved  that  under  this 
hole  the  ftones  do  not  lie  horizontally.  The  outer  ftcnes  are  moftly 
three  feet  fix  inches  long,  two  feet  four  inches  thick,  and  two  feet  fix  in 
the  inclined  plain;  the  fteps  are  two  feet  broad,  and  the  ftones  laid  ori 
them,  which  are  two  feet  wide,  project  beyond  the  fteps  four  feet  fix 
inches,  and  confequently  make  the  pyramid  every  way  nine  feet  wider 
than  it  was  before  it  was  cafed.  Where  I  obferved  the  pyramid  appear'd 
as  built  with  a  different  inclination  above,  the  ftones  fcem  to  have  fcaled, 
to  be  much  ruin'd  and  loofe  ;  and  I  do  not  think  that  I  could  be  fo  far 
deceived,  as  not  to  perceive  that  the  difference  was  caufed  only  by  that 
upper  part  not  being  cafed  with  ftone  as  the  reft.  The  lower  part  is  very 
entire,  except  towards  the  bottom,  as  mark'd  in  the  twentieth  plate,  where 
it  feems  to  have  been  purpofely  broke,  and  the  ftones  carried  away.  F. 
is  the  north  fide,  G.  the  fouth,  H.  the  weft,  and  I.  the  eaft  fide.  The 
north  fide  is  the  moft  entire,  and  the  ground  is  not  fo  much  raifed  as  on 

the 


ON   EGYPT.  $5 

the  other  fides.  To  the  eaft  north  eaft  of  this  is  a  ruin'd  pyramid  t.  A- 
bout  one  hundred  fevenry  feet  one  way,  and  two  hundred  and  ten  ano- 
ther. 

About  two  miles  to  the  eaft  of  the  laft  great  pyramid,  on  lower  ground, 
and  near  the  eaft  edge  of  the  mountain,  is  the  pyramid  R.  built  of  un- 
burnt  brick,  call'd  Ktoube-El-Menfhieh  (the  bricks  of  Menfhieh)  from  a 
village  near  call'd  Menfhieh  Dafhour.  It  was  doubtlefs  built  near  the 
plain  on  account  of  the  brick,  which  feems  to  be  made  of  the  earth 
brought  by  the  Nile,  being  of  a  fandy  black  earth,  with  fome  pebbles  and 
fliells  in  it ;  it  is  mix'd  up  with  chopped  ftraw,  in  order  to  bind  the  clay 
together,  as  they  now  make  unburnt  bricks  in  Egypt,  and  many  other 
eaftern  parts,  which  they  ufe  very  much  in  their  buildings.  I  found  fome 
of  thefe  bricks  thirteen  inches  and  a  half  long,  fix  inches  and  a  half  broad, 
and  four  inches  thick  ;  and  others  fifteen  inches  long,  feven  broad,  and 
four  inches  and  three  quarters  thick.  I  obferved  on  the  north  fide  the 
bricks  were  laid  lengthways  from  north  to  fouth,  but  not  every  where  in 
that  direction ;  however,  I  particularly  took  notice  that  they  were  not  laid 
fo  as  to  bind  one  another.  It  is  much  crumbled  and  ruin'd  ;  but  as  it  is, 
1  meafured  it,  and  found  it  to  be  one  hundred  fifty-feven  feet  on  the 
north  fide,  and  two  hundred  and  ten  on  the  weft  fide,  it  being  much 
broke  away  on  the  eaft  and  weft  fides,  for  at  top  it  meafured  forty- 
three  feet  by  thirty-five  ;  it  is  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high.  By  what  I 
could  judge  from  the  prefent  fhape  of  it,  I  concluded  that  it  was  built 
with  five  degrees,  like  the  pyramid  at  Saccara,  each  being  about  ten  feet 
broad,  and  thirty  deep ;  fo  that  the  afcent  to  it  is  eafy,  as  the  bricks  are 
crumbled  away.  As  there  is  gravel  and  fliells  in  the  bricks,  it  is  not  pro- 
bable that  this  is  the  pyramid  built  by  that  extravagant  King  Afychis, 
with  the  mud  that  ftuck  to  the  plummets,  which  were  often  thrown  into 
a  lake  for  that  purpofe  b. 

Another  day  I  went  to  fee  the  catacombs,  and  was  firft  conduded  to  Catacombs, 
thofe  of  the  mummies  in  the  eighteenth  plate  A.  to  one  a  little  fouth  of 
the  pyramid  of  fteps.  The  entrance  to  it  is  by  a  well  A.  in  the  nine- 
teenth plate,  about  four  feet  fquare,  and  twenty  feet  deep,  cut  through 
the  flaty  rock,  which  has  a  mixture  of  talc  in  it;  the  upper  part  is  fand, 
which  is  often  moved  by  the  wind,  and  fills  up  the  holes.  I  obferved 
fome  of  thefe  wells  were  cafed  with  unburnt  brick  at  the  top,  as  far  as 
the  depth  of  the  fand,  which  by  the  fize  of  them  I  imagined  to  be  an- 
tient.  The  ufual  method  of  letting  people  down  by  ropes  is  very  pain- 
ful ;  but  I  brought  with  me  a  ladder  made  of  ropes,  by  which  I  defcended 
more  conveniently,  tho'  not  without  being  much  incommoded  by  rhe 
fand  which  falls  down  from  the  top.  I  obferved  that  there  were  holes  on 
each  fide  to  defcend  by,  as  in  the  wells  of  the  pyramid,  and  thofe  of  the 
citterns  of  Alexandria ;  but  they  feem  here  to  be  moftly  wore  away,  fo  as 
to  be  of  no  ufe.  The  way  is  then  by  a  paffage  B.  five  feet  wide  and  about 
fifty  feet  long,  which  is  almoft  fill'd  up  with  fand.  I  then  came  to  a  paffage 

b  TxtfiatXt&cu  Si  fitsKoptw  tStov  tov  @maU  Ta;  TON,  OSON  O  ZETETON  AAAftN  ©EHN-  KON- 

sa-goTegov  kuviS  (iaeihizs  yfvo^svHf  'AtyvVls,  pvtijUoVu-  Til  TAP  TITOTTnTONTES  EZ  AIMNHN,  O,  TI 

vov  v>v£?pt$*  AiTrto&o*  in  etAi'v&wv  aioit-ffav?*-  iv  TiJ  nPOSXOITO  TOT  nHAOT  TX1  KONTil,  TOTTO 

ygjppalai  i»  A.'flu  IkficoAappsva  T«'Js  Aej-out*  iff**  XTAAETONTE2,  nAINOOTS  EIPTZAN  1CAI  ME 

MH   ME  KATANO0HS  E1POS   TAS  AI0INAE  TPOnn  TOIOTTil  ESEnOIHSAN.  Herodotus  1.  ii. 

ntPAMIAAE  nPOEXfi  TAP  ATTEilN  TOZOT-  c.  136. 

Vol.  I.  p  of 


4  < 


54  OBSERVATIONS 

of  the  fame  fize,  and  about  fix  feet  high  ;  on  one  fide  were  the  apart- 
ments C.  with  benches  X.  about  two  feet  above  the  paflages  D.  On 
thefe  I  fuppofe  they  laid  the  mummies ;  and  if  they  fet  them  upright, 
they  muft  have  had  fome  way  of  fupporting  them.    On  the  other  fide  are 
the  narrow  cells  E.  juft  big  enough  to  receive  a  large  coffin.    About  two 
feet  from  the  ground,  in  the  middle  of  them,  the  rock  fets  out  for  about 
half  a  foot  diameter,  as  reprefented  in  the  plan.    This  I  imagined  might 
be  to  lay  a  coffin  on,  and  there  might  be  another  placed  on  the  ground. 
From  this  alley  we  went  to  another  narrower,  on  each  fide  of  which  were 
niches,  as  reprefented  at  F.  which  feem'd  to  be  defign'd  to  fet  coffins  in 
upright.    From  thefe  paflages  there  are  cut  oblong  fquare  apartments 
G.  which  are  full  of  the  remains  of  mummies ;  and  probably  here  the 
inferior  perfons  of  a  family  were  depofited,  piled  up  one  on  another ;  as  we 
may  fuppofe  the  heads  of  the  family  were  fet  upright  in  the  niches,  which 
appear  to  have  been  wall'd  up,  as  well  as  all  the  other  apartments ;  and 
fometimes  walls  were  built  acrofs  the  paflages.    It  is  probable  each  family 
originally  had  its  burial  place,  and  as  the  family  increafed,  they  branched 
out  thefe  lepulchral  grotts,  fo  as  that  every  defcendant  might  have  a  place 
apart  for  his  family.    I  faw  feveral  of  the  fwathes  lying  about,  and  fome 
remaining  almoft  entire,  only  the  bodies  taken  out  from  the  middle  for 
the  fake  of  the  mummy,  and  to  fearch  if  they  could  find  any  thing  in 
them.    I  obferved  fome  of  the  bodies  had  been  done  up  in  palm  boughs, 
which  were  tied  together  at  each  end ;  fome  of  thefe  appear'd  like  rufhes, 
probably  being  rotten ;  others  I  faw,  had  been  tied  up  in  thefe  fine  reeds 
with  which  the  Eafterns  write.    Thefe  probably  were  people  of  better  con- 
dition than  the  others,  as  coffins  was  an  expence  that  all  could  not  be  at, 
and  thofe  who  could  afford  coffins  made  of  plank,  might  not  be  able  to  rife 
to  the  price  of  fuch  as  were  hollowed  out  of  one  piece  of  timber,  in  the 
fhape  of  a  mummy,  and  finely  painted  according  to  the  expence  they 
would  be  at.    I  faw  alfo  many  fkulls  here,  as  well  as  on  the  plain  be- 
yond ;  many  of  which  probably  had  been  rifled  of  the  bitumen  or  bal- 
fam  that  was  in  them,  when  that  fort  of  medicine  was  formerly  much 
more  in  ufe  than  it  is  at  prefent.    I  faw  alfo  feveral  large  earthen  vales, 
of  which  a  draught  may  be  feen  in  the  twenty- firft  plate,  which  repre- 
fents  a  mummy  1  fent  from  Egypt.    In  them  was  a  black  fat  earth,  which 
made  me  imagine  that  the  bowels  might  be  preferved  in  them. 
Catacombs       I  went  half  a  mile  north  of  the  pyramid  with  fteps,  to  the  catacomb 
of  birds.     o£  tjje  |3jr(js  q   call'd  the  well  or  pit  of  the  birds,  to  which  the  entrance 
is  the  fame  as  of  the  other  at  A.  excepting  that  it  is  about  thirty  feet  deep ; 
the  paffage  from  it  is  almoft  full  of  fand,  and  about  eight  feet  wide,  as  all 
the  other  paflages  are.    Thefe  catacombs  are  much  more  magnificent 
than  the  others,  being  the  fepulchres  of  thofe  birds  and  other  animals 
they  worfhipped  ;  for  when  they  happen'd  to  find  them  dead,  they  em- 
balm'd  them,  and  wrapped  them  up  with  the  fame  care  as  they  did  human 
bodies,  and  depofited  them  in  earthen  vafes  cover 'd  over  and  flopped 
clofe  with  mortar,  as  defcribed  in  the  laft  book:  A  plan  of  the  catacombs 
is  reprefented  in  the  nineteenth  plate ;  and  the  front  of  one  of  the  apart- 
ments is  fhewn  at  C.  as  it  is  fill'd  with  thofe  vafes. 

In  one  of  the  irregular  apartments  I  faw  feveral  larger  jarrs,  which 
might  be  for  dogs  and  other  animals;  of  which  fome  have  been  found, 

but 


ON  EGYPT. 


but  are  now  very  rare.  Concerning  the  manner  of  embalming  thefe  ani- 
mals, as  well  as  human  bodies,  I  mall  give  a  more  particular  account  in 
the  laft  book. 

Returning  from  vifiting  the  catacombs  fooner  than  was  expected,  when 
I  unlock'd  the  door  of  the  room  the  Sheik  had  put  me  into  at  his  houfe, 
a  little  girl  about  eight  years  old  run  out  of  the  room  againft  me  ;  lay- 
ing hold  of  her,  fhe  cried  out,  but  I  had  prefence  of  mind  enough  to 
let  her  go,  it  being  a  great  affront  in  thefe  countries  for  any  one  to  lay 
hands  on  the  fair  fex ;  and  difcovering  any  roguery  (which  1  immediate- 
ly apprehended)  would  have  caufed  an  embroil  in  the  family,  had  the 
Sheik  taken  my  part  or  not.  As  foon  as  I  came  into  the  room,  I  faw  a 
hole  had  been  broke  thro'  the  ceiling,  tho'  the  room  was  ten  feet  high, 
and  as  I  fuppofed,  the  mother  had  let  the  child  down  by  a  rope  to  rifle 
my  baggage,  and  convey  what  they  thought  proper  up  the  fame  way 
fhe  came  down.  As  it  happen'd  I  caught  them  at  the  beginning,  and 
little  was  loft;  tho'  doubtlefs  they  thought  they  fhould  find  treafures,  as 
they  imagine  the  Franks,  as  they  call  all  Europeans,  abound  in  money.  I 
was  a  little  chagrined  at  this  treatment,  but  thought  it  the  moil  prudent 
way  to  take  no  notice  of  it,  and  to  remain  under  the  protection  of  the 
Sheik,  tho'  I  could  have  gone  away  with  the  governour  of  Gize,  who 
happen'd  to  be  there,  which  might  have  caufed  a  jealoufy  between  them ; 
fo  I  ftaid  till  the  next  morning,  when  the  Sheik  fent  a  man  to  conduct 
me  to  Grand  Cairo. 


CHAP.  VII. 

Of  Faiume  the  old  Arsinoe,  the  Labyrinth, 
and  the  Lake  M  M  r  i  s. 

TH  E  Caravans  go  once  a  week  from  Cairo  to  Faiume,  but  as  the 
Cafhif  or  governor  of  that  province,  was  to  fet  out  for  this  place, 
it  was  thought  1  fhould  go  more  conveniendy  in  his  company  ; 
fo  being  recommended  to  him,  I  join'd  him  fome  time  before  our  depar- 
ture at  old  Cairo,  at  the  houfe  of  Ofman  Bey,  whofe  creature  and  flave 
he  had  been.  I  had  a  room  affign'd  me  there,  and  the  Cafhif  invited 
me  to  fup  with  him ;  I  had  brought  fome  fpirituous  liquors  with  me  to 
prefent  to  him,  with  which  I  took  care  he  fhould  be  fupplied  at  fupper, 
and  he  proved  to  be  a  cheerful  merry  man,  feeming  to  be  about  five 
and  thirty  years  old.  In  the  morning  I  fet  out  with  him,  and  we 
went  to  the  fouth  of  old  Cairo,  and  palled  by  the  mofque  call'd  Saranebi, 
becaufe  they  fay  a  print  of  Mahomet's  foot  is  there ;  as  they  pretend 
likewiie  at  a  mofque  near  Damafcus.  Beyond  it  we  paffcd  by  a  village 
call'd  Dertin,  and  came  to  St.  George's  convent,  about  five  miles  from, 
old  Cairo;  it  is  uninhabited,  but  the  priefts  go  out  there  to  officiate  on 
fundays  and  holidays.  Here  we  eroded  the  river,  and  going  on,  we 
came  to  the  large  village  of  Mocanan,  with  fine  plantations  of  palm- 
trees  about  it,  and  heaps  of  rubbifh  to  the  north  of  it.  About  two  miles 
further  to  the  fouth  weft,  we  arrived  at  Metrahenny ;  about  this  place 

alfo 

5 


OBSERV ATI ONS 

alfo  I  obferved  feveral  heaps,  and  a  mound  extending  a  mile  north  and 
fouth,  and  then  north  weft  towards  the  pyramids  that  are  near  Saccara. 
This,  I  conjecture,  might  be  a  rampart  thrown  up  to  defend  the  antient 
city  of  Memphis ;  and  this  I  fuppofe  was  the  bank  on  which  I  came  from 
Saccara.  South  of  Metrahenny  we  paffed  over  a  canal  called  Calig-El- 
Eheram,  or  the  canal  of  the  pyramids,  which  communicates  with  feveral 
fmall  canals  that  were  dry  in  the  month  of  February.  We  flopped  a 
while,  and  I  had  my  carpet  laid  at  a  diftance ;  but  the  Cafhif  invited 
me  to  him,  and  I  partook  of  their  collation  of  bread,  raw  onions,  and  a 
fort  of  fait  pickled  cheefe.  We  went  on  and  came  to  the  canal  of  Dafhour, 
which  we  paffed  on  a  large  bridge  of  ftone  with  four  arches.  This  I 
take  to  be  the  weftern  canal  mention'd  in  the  way  to  Saccara.  We  pur- 
fued  our  journey  moftly  by  the  canal,  and  came  near  to  the  hills  to  the 
fouth  at  Baderifhihe,  to  the  eaft  of  the  canal.  Tho'  the  greater  part  of 
thefe  hills  may  be  natural,  yet  I  fuppofe  that  the  Nile  formerly  running 
more  to  the  weft,  a  mound  was  thrown  up  where  it  ufually  flow'd,  to 
turn  its  courfe,  according  to  the  account  of  Herodotus ;  but  that  a  canal 
was  brought  in  lower,  and  join'd  the  antient  bed  of  the  Nile  further  to 
the  north  weft,  in  order  to  water  the  country.  We  paffed  the  night  there 
in  a  grove  of  palm-trees ;  the  Cafhif  fent  to  me  to  come  to  him,  and  I 
prefented  him  with  the  liquor  I  brought  for  him,  and  fat  with  him  for 
fome  time  ;  but  a  great  Sheik  coming  to  him,  I  retired  to  my  own  place, 
and  the  Cafhif  fent  me  of  his  fupper,  which  was  prepared  for  him  by  the 
village  on  the  other  fide.  The  next  day  we  went  on,  and  afcended  the 
low  fandy  hills  to  the  fouth  weft,  which  abound  in  the  Egyptian  pebble ; 
the  road  was  after  through  an  uneven  fandy  defert,  and  we  came  to  a  vale 
bounded  to  the  north  by  low  hills  that  are  made  up  entirely  of  oyfter 
fhells,  with  a  very  little  red  clay  or  earth  between.  I  faw  alfo  much  of 
that  talc  which  is  call'd  Trichites ;  the  oyfter  fhells  are  large,  and  thofe 
at  the  top  are  dry,  and  not  changed  in  their  quality,  but  many  of  thofe 
below  and  on  the  plain  are  petrified.  We  afcended  another  fmall  height, 
and  crofting  a  large  fandy  plain,  we  came  to  a  Sheik's  tomb,  and  a  wa- 
tering place  on  a  rifing  ground,  and  by  a  long  defcent  arrived  at  Tamiea, 
at  the  end  of  the  defert,  where  a  canal  comes  from  the  Nile,  and  runs 
into  the  lake  Maris.  This  canal  was  very  low,  and  had  little  water  in 
it ;  the  mouth  of  it  at  the  Nile,  as  I  was  inform'd,  being  almoft  fill'd  up 
with  a  bank  of  fand ;  fo  that  at  Tamiea  they  have  made  a  refervoir  with 
ftrong  brick  walls  above  the  canal,  being  a  fort  of  a  pond  about  half  a  mile 
round,  to  which  the  water  is  brought  by  a  fmaller  canal,  that  higher  up 
branches  out  from  a  great  one.  Here  the  water  is  kept  up  for  the  ufe  of 
the  village,  and  to  be  convey'd  to  the  high  lands  by  two  canals ;  but  when 
the  bafin  is  full,  and  they  have  no  need  to  draw  it  off,  the  water  runs 
over  in  three  fheets  at  the  weft  end,  and  fo  falls  into  the  great  canal  f. 
Having  well  confider'd  this  great  work,  we  went  on  through  a  large  fandy 
plain,  having  improved  land  to  the  weft  that  is  very  poor,  and  producing 
bad  crops,  the  corn  being  only  fown,  or  coming  up  along  by  the  furrows, 

•f  Strabo  has  an  expreflion  for  continuing  the  wa-    diftributed  it  out  all  over  the  country  ;  and  it  is 
ter  in  this  manner ;  Tuy.itv£ei,  and  'tis  probable    not  unlikely  that  the  village  of  Tamiea  has  its 
they  called  the  head  of  water  itfelf  T»fii«'a,  that    name  from  this, 
is,  the  place  where  they  kept  up  the  water,  and 

where 


.  4Uy*ie  Temple  ^vjfe  labyrinth. . 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  57 

where  it  has  the  benefit  of  the  little  water  they  can  bring  to  it.  The  Arabs 
who  came  out  to  meet  the  Cafhif,  exercifed  themfelves  all  the  way  on 
horfeback,  by  running  after  one  another  with  the  pike,  in  the  uiual  way : 
When  one  has  an  advantage  over  another  he  engages,  he  turns  fhort  and 
rides  away,  the  other  purfuing  him  till  he  finds  an  opportunity  to  ftrike, 
and  then  he  runs  off  in  the  fame  manner. 

We  came  to  the  large  village  of  Sennours,  and  went  to  the  hqufe  of  the  Sennours, 
governor  of  the  place,  where  a  great  fupper  was  prepared  for  the  Cafhif,- 
a  coarfe  brown  woollen  cloth  being  fpread  near  the  whole  length  of  the 
room,  a  heap  of  bread  in  cakes  was  laid  all  round  it,  and  about  ten 
difhes  repeated  fix  or  feven  times  over  were  placed  along  the  whole  length 
of  the  room  ;  as  pilaw,  a  fmall  fheep  boiled  whole,  a  lamb  roafted  in 
the  fame  manner,  roaft  fowls,  many  difhes  of  ftew'd  meat  in  foup,  fweet 
flummery,  cabobs,  or  meat  roafted  in  fmall  pieces,  that  may  be  eat  with- 
out dividing,  and  the  like.  The  Cafhif  fat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and 
all  the  great  people  fat  down  with  him  :  I  might  have  put  myfelf  in  a- 
mongft  them,  but  being  determined  not  to  do  any  thing  without  direction, 
I  kept  my  feat  on  the  fopha,  and  when  the  perfon  got  up  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  Cafhif,  the  Cafhif  call'd  to  me  to  take  his  place,  and  fhew'd  me 
great  civility  ;  which  was  more  honourable  than  if  I  had  placed  myfelf 
lower  at  the  table.  The  cuftom  is  for  every  one  to  get  up  as  foon  as  he 
has  done,  warn  his  hands,  and  take  a  draught  of  water;  and  fo  there  is  a 
continual  fucceffion,  till  at  laft  the  poor  come  in  and  eat  up  all;  for  it  is 
a  cuftom  with  the  Arabs  never  to  fet  by  any  thing  that  comes  to  the 
table,  fo  that  when  they  kill  a  fheep,  they  drefs  it  all,  call  in  their  neigh- 
bours and  the  poor  to  finifh  every  thing,  and  afterwards  live  on  bread,  and 
their  other  mean  fare.  In  the  morning  we  had  a  very  grand  collation  laid 
in  the  fame  manner,  confiding  of  the  beft  fort  of  bread,  made  with  but- 
ter, fried  eggs,  honey,  green  fait  cheefe,  olives,  and  feveral  other  fmall 
things. 

We  were  here  in  the  fruitful  province  of  Arfinoe,  which  is  faid  to  Province  of 
have  been  the  moft  beautiful  fpot  in  all  Egypt  *,  being  the  only  part  Arfinoe' 
of  it  that  produced  naturally  the  olive,  which  was  cultivated  by  art  in 
the  gardens  of  Alexandria.    Here  with  care,  they  could  make  excellent 
oyl  ;  but  negle&ing  the  bufinefs,  they  made  only  an  ill-favour'd  oyl,  pro- 
bably by  letting  the  olives  hang  too  long,  in  order  to  make  a  greater 
quantity;  it  alio  produced  wine,  great  plenty  of  corn  and  pulfe,  and 
whatever  they  pleafed  to  fow.    We  purfued  our  journey,  and  came  to 
Baiamout,  where  there  certainly  has  been  fome  confiderable  antient  city  Baiamout, 
or  buildings,  it  may  be,  fome  place  dependant  on  Arfinoe,  which  was 
near.    There  are  particularly  to  the  north  of  the  village,  ruins  on  each 
fide  of  the  road,  which  I  found  to  be  of  two  pyramids,  as  reprefented  Pyramid?, 
in  the  two  plans  and  uprights  in  the  twenty-fecond  plate.    I  fhould  not 
have  conject ured  that  they  were  pyramids,  if  I  had  not  feen  the  corner 
of  pyramid  A.  remain,  as  reprefented  in  the  upright ;  and  they  are  cal- 
led by  the  people  the  pyramids  of  Baiamout  (Al-Harem-Baiamout.)  They 
were  built  in  a  very  particular  manner,  of  large  freeftone,  being  fo- 

ihcutyvTit  ts  yaq  f/s'vSr  tf)  fttj-ecAsif  ^  TtAflflif  Strabo  ].  Xvi.  p.  809. 

Vol.  I.  Q_  lid 


OBSERVATIONS 

lid  buildings,  at  the  corners  and  in  the  middle  ;  and  I  fuppofe  likewife  in 
the  middle  of  each  fide,  there  bejng  fome  remains  of  one  of  the  walls  in 
pyramid  B.  It  feems  as  if  the  two  firft  tiers  of  ftone  were  built  on  the 
foundation,  and  that  the  others  between  the  folid  buildings  were  laid 
from  the  wall  to  thofe  buildings  ;  there  remain  at  prefent  ten  tiers  of  ftone 
of  the  middle  piles,  of  the  other  parts  there  is  only  one  tier  above  ground: 
the  ftone  was  brought  from  a  great  diftance,  fo  this  manner  of  building 
feems  to  have  been  contrived  to  fave  the  expence  of  bringing  the  mate- 
rials. I  faw  about  this  place,  as  well  as  on  the  fpot  of  the  antient  Ar- 
finoe,  near  Faiume,  the  people  lifting  the  fand  in  order  to  find  feals  and 
medals,  there  being  no  place  in  all  the  eaft  where  the  former  are  found  in 
fuch  great  abundance.  We  went  on  and  paffed  a  deep  bed  of  a  canal,  with 
broken  banks  on  each  fide  eight  or  nine  feet  high,  a  very  fmall  fbeam 
running  in  it.  I  here  obferved  that  the  foil  for  about  three  feet  from  the 
top  was  black,  under  it  was  a  layer  of  two  feet  of  a  yellow  fandy  foil, 
which  I  took  notice  of  in  a  pit  at  Sennours;  and  moreover  here  the  earth 
below  is  black,  fo  that  the  lower  black  foil  being  the  fediment  of  the 
Nile ;  at  fome  time  or  other  a  hurricane  of  wind  may  have  brought  fuch 
a  quantity  of  fand  as  to  cover  the  country  for  two  feet  deep;  which  after- 
wards might  be  render'd  fruitful  again  by  the  overflow  of  the  river.  We 
came  to  Faiume  through  the  heaps  of  ruins  of  the  antient  Arfinoe,  crof- 
fing  on  a  bridge,  the  large  canal,  which  runs  along  the  north  fide  of  the 
new  town. 

Faiume  is  about  two  miles  in  compafs,  but  very  ill  built,  chiefly  of  un- 
burnt  brick  ;  it  is  the  place  of  refidence  of  the  Cafhif  or  governor  of  this 
province  :  Several  rich  people  live  here,  who  have  villages  near  belonging 
to  them ;  there  are  alfo  fixty  Arabs  of  intereft  who  live  in  the  town, 
and  have  the  title  of  Sheiks,  one  of  them  being  the  head  who  has  the 
greateft  intereft  ,•  and  thefe  all  go  to  the  divan  of  the  Cadi,  which  is 
held  twice  a  week.  The  Cadi  is  fent  once  a  year  from  Conftantinople, 
and  has  a  fubftitute  that  conftantly  relides  here,  and  is  generally  the  fame 
perfon ;  the  Cafhif  calls  a  divan  whenever  there  is  occafion.  They  have  here 
a  great  manufacture  of  thofe  mattings  they  lay  on  the  floors  of  their  rooms ; 
they  are  alfo  famous  for  making  rofe  water,  which  is  ufed  by  them  in 
many  things  they  eat,  as  well  as  to  throw  on  the  guefts  before  the  in- 
cenfe ;  and  it  is  faid  alfo  that  they  make  coarfe  cloths,  and  cheap  woollen 
fluffs,  prepare  leather,  and  thofe  leathern  bags  in  which  they  carry  the 
water  on  the  camels  backs. 

The  Francifcans  of  the  convent  of  Jerufalem  have  a  fmall  place  here, 
coming  under  the  notion  of  phyficians,  tho'  they  wear  their  habit.  A 
tumult  being  raifed  againft  the  Chriftians  a  year  or  two  before,  on  account 
of  one  of  them  that  kill'd  a  renegado,  they  broke  open  this  convent  and 
plunder'd  it  of  every  thing.  The  Copti  church  is  four  miles  off,  tho' 
there  are  many  Chriftians  in  the  town;  they  have  vineyards  in  this  coun- 
try, moftly  about  two  leagues  to  the  weft,  and  the  Chriftians  make  very 
good  whitewine ;  they  have  alfo  fine  raifins,  and  the  Mahometans  make 
a  fyrup  of  the  juice  of  the  grape  by  boiling  it,  which  they  call  Becmes; 
it  is  ufed  inftead  of  fugar,  and  they  bring  it  alfo  to  the  table  and  dip 
their  bread  in  it,  which  is  a  very  agreeable  food.  The  water  of  the  ca- 
nals in  the  month  of  February  is  a  little  fait  and  not  good,  and  mull  be 

2  worfe 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  59 

worfe  till  the  Nile  rifes.  Whilft  I  was  at  Faiume  it  hail'd  and  rain'd  al- 
moft  all  one  morning,  and  rain'd  very  hard  the  night  following,  which  is 
not  look'd  on  as  an  advantage,  and  often  does  harm  ,■  and  as  they  told 
me  caufes  a  fcarcity,  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile  being  fufficient  to  water 
the  country. 

When  I  came  to  Faiume,  I  had  an  apartment  given  me  in  the  Cafhif's 
houle,  and  hoped  to  have  feen  things  to  great  advantage ;  his  people  per- 
fuaded  me  to  fend  back  my  horfes,  and  promifed  I  mould  be  well  fur- 
nifh'd,  but  I  found  myfelf  obliged  to  hire  very  bad  horfes  at  an  extrava- 
gant price.  They  ferved  for  me  a  table  every  day  in  my  own  room,  and 
Sometimes  the  Cafhif  fent  for  me  to  dine  with  him;  when  the  drams  went 
round  very  plentifully  whilft  we  were  eating,  and  the  great  man  diverted 
himfelf  by  jefting  with  two  or  three  that  feem'd  to  be  with  him  as  depen- 
dants, expecting  fome  little  government  ;  for  on  fuch  occafions,  when 
they  are  in  private,  the  Turks  lay  afide  their  gravity,  and  run  into  levity 
as  much  as  the  Europeans. 

I  went  and  examined  the  lite  of  the  antient  Arlinoe,  to  the  north  of  Arfmoss 
the  town,  twelve  miles  and  a  half  from  the  lake;  it  was  firft  call'd  the 
city  of  the  crocodiles  \  becaufe  they  worfhipped  the  crocodile  there,  which 
they  bred  up  tame  in  the  lake,  of  which  Strabo  who  faw  it,  gives  a  very 
extraordinary  account.  Diodorus  gives  two  reafons  for  the  rife  of  the 
worftiip  of  the  crocodile;  one  that  Menas,  or  Menes,  one  of  the  antient 
Kings,  the  fame  who  built  the  labyrinth,  being  purfued  by  his  own  dogs 
to  this  lake,  was  carried  by  a  crocodile  to  the  other  fide,  and  in  gratitude 
built  this  city,  and  inftituted  divine  honours  to  this  animal,  fet  apart  the 
lake  for  its  nourifhment,  where  he  built  himfelf  a  fepulchre,  a  pyramid, 
and  the  labyrinth.  I  conjectured  this  city  might  have  been  about  four 
miles  in  compafs,  and  probably  had  a  canal  on  every  fide  of  it.  There  are 
little  remains  of  the  city,  except  the  great  heaps  of  rubbifh  that  are  feen 
on  all  fides,  and  ruins  of  a  wall  of  a  round  building,  which  feems  to  have 
been  built  of  brick,  but  the  'eaft  fide  of  it  was  encrufted  with  fuch  a  fort 
of  petrification  as  is  feen  on  antient  aquedufts ;  the  people  fay  it  was  a 
bagnio,  and  poflibly  it  might  be  fome  old  building  converted  to  that  ufe. 
The  country  round  is  water'd  by  a  great  number  of  canals,  over  which 
there  are  many  bridges  made  of  brick.  They  reckon  their  diftances  here 
by  malakas,  a  meafure  of  about  half  a  league,  or  what  one  may  travel 
eafily  in  half  an  hour. 

I  went  about  three  miles  to  the  fouth  weft,  to  a  very  particular  obehfk  Obeliik. 
of  a  red  granite,  call'd  Akmud  Bijige  (the  pillar  of  Bijige)  from  the  vil- 
lage of  Bijige  near  it ;  it  is  of  the  figure  reprefented  in  the  twenty-fecond 
plate,  meafuring  four  feet  two  inches  on  the  north  fide,  and  fix  feet  fix 
inches  on  the  eaft  ;  it  is  forty-three  feet  high,  each  fide  of  it  divided  by 
lines  into  three  columns,  that  in  the  middle  being  a  foot  wide.  I  obferved 
the  manner  in  which  the  hieroglyphics  are  difpofed ;  above  thefe  are  four 
ftories  of  men,  fix  on  each  line,  eighteen  inches  high,  moft  of  them  hav- 
ing hawks  heads,  and  the  high  cap  ;  below,  it  is  divided  into  fourteen 
columns  of  hieroglyphics,  and  the  top  is  cut  down  in  the  middle  about 

c  na^TAeurot^i  tk  TOMTd  £<J»'  !x«tov  raji'sr,  srcAjf     tylpoS^/t  iy  Tw  vopu  TSTw  TJjUWITI  Toy  XfCKs'sfcrlAou. 

I^ly 'A^tvoij.  K£omS4\m     woAif  f»«A«TQ  nrgoTE^or,   Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  8 1 1. 

three 


6o  OBSERVATIONS 

three  inches  from  north  to  fouth,  as  in  the  draught:  The  obeliflc  is  much 
decay'd  all  round  for  ten  feet  high,  but  moftly  on  the  fouth  fide  ;  the  weft 
fide  is  almoft  entirely  defaced,  and  at  the  fouth  weft  and  fouth  eaft  cor- 
ners, it  is  much  broken  for  about  twenty  feet  high,  and  the  whole  is  very 
foul,  on  account  of  the  birds  that  fit  on  the  top  ol  it ;  fo  that  it  would 
have  been  difficult  to  have  taken  off  the  hieroglyphics.  We  went  on  and 
came  to  a  village  call'd  Gerod,  where  we  vifited  the  Sheik  of  the  village, 
who  entertain'd  us  very  civilly.  We  went  on  moftly  thro'  groves  oi  young 
palm-trees,  and  came  to  Topar,  where  I  faw  a  young  woman  fit  by  the 
road  unveil'd,  which  was  a  certain  iign  of  the  profeffion  fhe  lived  by.  A- 
bout  the  country  are  feveral  vineyards,  with  the  vines  difpofed  in  a  very 
particular  manner,  which  I  fhall  defcribe  in  another  place.  Having  paffed 
the  groves,  we  paffed  by  corn  fields,  and  afterwards  over  uncultivated 
land,  and  eroding  the  dry  bed  of  a  canal,  we  came  to  the  large  bed  of 
Bahr-Jofcpi.,  Bahr-Jofeph,  which  runs  into  the  lake  Maris;  it  is  about  one  hundred 
yards  broad,  with  clifts  on  the  eaft  fide  not  lefs  than  forty  feet  high,  and 
on  the  weft  about  thirty ;  on  the  eaft  fide  the  black  earth  is  about  fix  or 
feven  feet  deep,  and  on  the  weft  it  is  from  eight  to  twenty  feet  deep  in 
different  places,  fo  that  it  is  probable  the  canal  did  formerly  overflow 
on  that  fide;  and  after  having  continued  to  water  the  land  by  art,  as 
they  do  at  prefent,  the  ground  may  have  rifen  more  on  this  fide  than  on  the 
eaft  :  Below  this  it  is  a  fandy  clay  of  a  light  yellow  colour,  and  rock  to- 
wards the  bottom ;  the  ftream  that  run  at  this  time  was  very  fhallow,  and 
about  fifty  feet  broad.  This  they  told  me  was  the  only  place  to  pafs  the 
canal,  and  that  thofe  who  would  go  to  the  great  pyramids  to  the  fouth, 
muft  come  this  way  ;  tho'  I  have  reafon  to  believe  that  the  canal  is  paf- 
fable  near  the  lake.  The  country  to  the  weft  is  call'd  Nefle,  and  is  im- 
proved for  a  league  or  two :  And  here  I  fuppofe  the  harveft  is  forwarder 
than  in  any  part  of  Egypt,  for  on  the  fixteenth  of  February  I  faw  barley 
of  that  year  cut  and  threfli'd ;  the  reafon  I  fuppofe  is,  that  they  fow  very 
early,  before  the  Nile  is  at  higheft,  that  they  may  raife  the  water  with 
lefs  labour  when  it  is  fo  high;  for  at  the  cataract,  fo  many  degrees  more 
to  the  fouth,  the  com  was  but  juft  in  car  at  the  latter  end  of  Ja- 
nuary. 

>j£ne.  The  large  village  of  Nefle  is  clofe  by  the  river ;  and  I  went  to  the  Sheik's 

houfe,  which  is  built  about  a  court,  and  has  a  round  turret  at  the  north 
weft  corner  with  canon  in  it  for  their  defence,  as  they  are  often  in  a 
ftate  of  war  with  the  neighbouring  Arabs.  I  had  a  letter  to  the  Sheik 
from  the  Cafhif,  who  was  not  at  home ;  fo  we  applied  ourfelves  to  the 
Caimacam,  who  has  little  power  here,  and  lives  in  fear;  he  agreed  with 
one  of  the  chief  Arabs  to  fend  with  me  four  Arabs  on  horfeback,  and  a 
camel  to  carry  water  and  provifions,  for  about  the  price  of  three  guineas, 
and  about  four  the  next  morning  we  fet  forward,  and  going  about  two 
hours  to  the  north  weft,  we  took  a  fupply  of  water,  and  ftay'd  to  give 
the  cattle  grafs.  From  this  place  the  fandy  plain  begins ;  and  travelling 
on,  we  faw  a  ruin'd  caftle  at  fome  diftance  to  the  eaft,  call'd  Cafr-Cophou; 
and  further  on  fuch  another,  call'd  Cafr-Cobal.  It  is  remarkable  that 
Ptolemy  mentions  the  Cobii  in  the  province  Mareotis ;  a  colony  from  which 
place  might  be  fettled  here  :  To  the  weft  is  a  high  iingle  hill,  appearing 
fomething  like  a  pyramid,  half  built ;  it  is  call'd  El-Herem-Medaiah-El- 

Hebgad. 


3 


ON    EGYPT.  61 

Hebgad.  This  I  was  told  fignifies  the  pyramid  of  the  horfe,  tho'  I  cannot 
be  inform'd  of  the  true  fignification  of  the  words.  The  firft  part  of  the 
defert  is  fandy,  and  afterwards  in  many  parts  it  is  a  plain  rocky  ground, 
moftly  cover'd  over  with  land. 

We  faw  at  a  great  diftance  the  temple  of  the  Labyrinth ;  and  being  a-  Labyrinth, 
bout  a  league  from  it,  I  obferved  feveral  heaps  as  of  ruins  cover'd  with 
fand,  and  many  ftones  all  round,  as  if  there  had  been  fome  great  building 
there  ;  they  call  it  the  town  of  Caroon,  (Belief  Caroon)  it  feem'd  to  have 
been  of  a  confiderable  breadth  from  eaft  to  weft,  and  the  buildings  extended 
on  each  fide  towards  the  north,  to  the  lake  Maris  and  the  temple :  This 
without  doubt  is  the  fpot  of  the  famous  Labyrinth,  which  Herodotus  fays 
was  built  by  the  twelve  Kings  of  Egypt,  when  the  government  was  di- 
vided into  twelve  parts,  as  fo  many  palaces  for  them  to  meet  in,  to  trans- 
act affairs  of  ftate  and  religion.  Diodorus  1  mentions  that  it  was  built  as 
a  fepulchre  for  Mendes,  and  e  Strabo  that  it  was  near  the  fepulchre  of  the 
King  that  built  it ;  which  was  probably  Imandes,  perhaps  the  fame  as 
Mendes,  whofe  fepulchre  he  after  fays E  was  here,  and  he  is  faid  to  be  the 
King  that  built  the  Labyrinth.  Pomponius  Mela  fpeaks  of  it  as  built  by 
Pfammiticus ;  but  as  Menes,  or  Imandes  is  mention'd  by  feveral,  poflibly 
he  might  be  one  of  the  twelve  Kings  of  greateft  influence  and  authority 
who  might  have  the  chief  ordering  and  direction  of  this  great  building, 
and  as  a  peculiar  honour,  might  have  a  fepulchre  apart  from  the  others. 
But  whoever  was  the  founder  of  this  extraordinary  fabrick,  they  all  agree  that 
the  twelve  palaces  contain'd  in  them  three  thoufand  rooms,  half  of  them 
tinder  ground,  without  doubt  cut  out  of  the  rock,  as  thofe  at  Thebes. 
There  was  no  wood  throughout  the  whole  building,  and  the  entrances  and 
100ms  were  contrived  in  fuch  a  manner  as  that  it  would  be  impoffible  for 
a  ftranger  to  find  his  way  out ;  and  fuch  an  extraordinary  building  it  was, 
that  it  is  faid  Dredalus  came  to  Egypt  on  purpofe  to  fee  it,  and  built  the 
Labyrinth  in  Crete  for  King  Minos  on  the  model  of  this.  Herodotus  with 
great  admiration  faw  the  upper  ftory  of  the  Labyrinth,  it  not  being  per- 
mitted to  go  into  the  underground  apartments,  where  were  the  tombs 
both  of  the  Kings  who  built  the  Labyrinth,  and  of  the  facred  crocodiles. 
The  whole  building  was  cover'd  with  ftone,  doubtlefs  laid  on  the  many 
pillars  that  were  in  it;  and  it  was  adorn'd  throughout  with  the  fineft 
fculptures :  A  view  of  the  lake,  and  the  relation  the  buildings  have  one  to 
another,  may  be  feen  in  the  twenty-fecond  plate. 

Going  over  the  fpot  of  this  famous  building,  the  firft  thing  I  faw  was 
the  vafe  A.  in  the  twenty-third  plate,  of  a  reddifti  ftone  or  marble,  with 
a  folid  handle  on  each  fide.  Afterwards  I  came  to  the  foundation  of  an 
oblong  fquare  building  of  the  fame  kind  of  ftone,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  fouth  of  the  great  fabrick  I  fhall  give  an  account  of;  it  is  the  building 
B.  in  the  plate  of  the  plans,  and  in  the  plate  of  the  view  of  the  lake 
Maris;  it  is  built  on  a  kind  of  folid  bafe  and  pedeftal  of  ftone,  the  fe- 
micircular  pilafters  have  only  one  hewn  ftone  at  the  bottom  of  the  co- 
lumn, all  above  in  the  whole  building  being  brick  plaifter'd  over  ;  there 

GveA*5o*.   Diodorus  1.  I.  p.  55.  MgrlMtaff,  i  e»  uv^y.\q  I'^pjym^r-,  ixafq* 

e  njSi-  &  Tou'roi;  v,  T»  AaGufcj »3*s  KMtmmij  srae^rsv  te 7(^7rAe&go'»  srajj  E^wir*  tijk  iffAEu^iv       to  v^@* 

7CUf  53U^p.'ffl»    Eji»  t^CV,     )£,  0  3T« ^Xet'^EV©-  T«(f@.       iVcK.    I^an^f   (J'syOf**    8  T«$fl'f.       StnibO  !.   Xvii.  p. 

ts  xalot<rx.t*>atait<]&  pstG(A;»5  rot  AwGv'tyv&ov.  Strabo     Si  I. 
xvii.  p.  Hi  i. 

Vol.  I.  R  are 


6z  OBSERVATIONS 

are  no  pilafters  in  the  front,  but  the  bafe  is  continued  on  before  the  door- 
place,  as  if  it  was  defign'd  as  a  foundation  of  a  portico;  at  the  north 
end  within  there  is  a  femicircular  niche  as  to  receive  a  flattie  :  Whatever 
this  building  was,  it  feems  to  have  been  deftroy'd  and  repair'd  in  this  rough 
manner;  and  does  not  ftand  in  a  line  with  the  temple,  but  rather  a  little  to 
the  weft.  The  pilafters  with  their  capital,  and  bafe,  and  pedeftal,  are  as 
reprefented  at  C.  I  obferved  fome  unburnt  bricks  that  were  of  yellow 
clay,  and  mix'd  with  ftraw;  all  the  others  I  had  feen  in  Egypt  being  of 
a  black  earth.  A  little  further,  but  more  to  the  eaft,  is  the  oblong  fquare 
building  D.  of  white  hewn  ftone  plaifter'd  over,  a  fort  of  bafe  and  plinth 
ranges  round,  reprefented  with  the  pillar  at  E.  there  being  eight  tiers  of 
ftone  above  this  bafe,  each  eleven  inches  deep.  Near  this,  a  little  to  the 
north  weft,  is  a  very  particular  fort  of  ruftic  building  F.  that  feems  to 
have  been  a  gateway  :  Of  this  kind  there  is  another  G.  to  the  north  weft 
of  the  great  building,  where  there  feem'd  to  be  fome  remains  of  an  arch, 
which  would  have  made  me  doubt  of  its  antiquity,  if  there  had  been  evi- 
Tcmplcof  dent  figns  0f  that  kind  of  architecture.  At  length  we  came  to  the  grand 
limh!'aby"  building  itfelf,  now  call'd  Cafr-Caroon  (the  caftle  of  Caroon.)  Herodotus 
mentions  a  pyramid  at  the  corner  of  the  Labyrinth,  and  Strabo  fpeaks  of 
a  fepulchre  at  the  end  of  it,  which  was  a  fquare  pyramid,  in  which  he 
fays  Imandes  was  buried,  which  I  conjecture  to  be  this  building,  and  that 
fome  facred  crocodiles  were  alfo  depolited  in  it.  .  Strabo  E  fays  it  was  four 
hundred  feet  fquare  and  high ;  Herodotus  h,  who  mentions  only  a  pyra- 
mid in  general,  fpeaks  of  it  as  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  fquare.  The 
prefent  building  is  about  one  hundred  fixty-five  feet  long,  and  eighty 
broad.  If  thefe  authors  fpeak  of  the  fame  building,  'twill  be  difficult 
to  account  for  this  difference  in  their  meafures,  unlefs  we  fuppofe  that 
Strabo  might  fpeak  of  a  large  enclofure  of  this  fepulchre,  tho'  it  will  be' 
difficult  to  conceive  how  it  could  be  four  hundred  feet  high,  and  gives 
reafon  to  fufpe<£t  that  he  confounded  this  building  with  the  pyramid  in 
the  ifland.  The  portico  H.  is  a  very  ruftic  work,  almoft  all  deftroy'd, 
being  no  where  above  fix  feet  high;  it  is  probable  there  were  fome  apart- 
ments under  it,  from  the  remains  of  a  flight  of  flairs  on  the  eaft  fide  of 
it.  I  fhould  not  have  thought  that  it  had  been  cover'd,  if  I  had  not  feen 
the  remains  of  pillars  in  the  middle;  the  views  of  the  feveral  fides  are  re- 
prefented in  the  twenty-third  plate.  The  front  is  more  ruin'd  than  any 
other  part.  The  upper  ftory  in  the  middle  is  fallen  down,  and  is  entirely 
gone  almoft  all  the  way  from  this  break.  As  the  building  now  remains, 
there  are  forty-four  tiers  of  ftone,  each  nine  inches  deep,  and  confequently 
it  is  thirty-three  feet  high.  There  are  figns  of  a  cornifh  ranging  round, 
notwithftanding  which  the  building  might  have  been  carried  up  higher. 
Thofe  fmall  openings  reprefented  in  the  feveral  views  of  this  building  in 
the  fame  plate,  are  not  windows,  but  feem  to  be  the  places  from  which 
thofe  pieces  of  brown  marble  or  fine  ftone  have  been  taken,  which  I  faw 
to  the  north  of  the  temple,  adorn'd  with  a  cornifh  at  tcp  that  have  fome 
ornaments  of  fculpture,  and  in  the  middle  a  niche  is  cut,  which  feem'd  to 
be  of  fuch  a  fize  as  would  contain  a  marble  head,  and  poffibly  they  might 
have  fuch  an  objeft  of  worfhip  placed  in  thefe  niches,  reprefenting  i_vcry 

8  See  notef.  ytoTilat,  SSU  cTsr  cwjtijv  vVfl  yw  minimal.  Herodo- 

h  T5;  Si  ya,i„  Tito™.?©'  tS  A«6ve/'&a  (gmt     tUS  1,  H.  C.  149. 

facred 


ON    EGYPT.  63 

facred  crocodile  that  might  be  depofited  in  this  place>  as  I  ihall  fhew  I 
have  reafon  to  think  they  were. 

The  four  rooms  in  the  length  of  this  building  have  door  places  crown'd 
with  double  corniihes,  as  reprefented  in  the  plate  of  that  architecture,  to- 
gether with  ornaments  of  the  winged  globe.  Thefc  rooms  I  fuppofe,  be- 
fore they  were  filled  up  with  earth,  were  near  twenty  feet  high,  and  are 
cover'd  with  large  (tones  of  fuch  a  length  as  to  be  laid  from  wall  to  wall; 
the  narrow  apartments  at  the  further  end  might  be  to  depofite  fome 
tombs  in.  Over  each  of  them  is  a  work  like  a  falfe  door  adorn'd  with 
cornifhes  ;  one  of  them  being  charged  with  fculptures  of  hawks.  The 
paflage  from  the  cell  to  the  weft,  leads  up  to  the  apartments  L.  by  a  hole 
that  feems  to  be  broke  in,  and  to  come  out  at  b.  the  large  room  d.  being 
over  the  narrow  apartments  at  the  end  of  the  laft  room.  Thefe  I  fup- 
pofe were  the  places  to  depofite  the  facred  crocodiles  in  ;  one  of  which 
long  cells  e.  is  thirty  feet  by  three  feet,  and  the  other  feven  feet  by  two 
feet ;  a  way  is  broke  up  from  the  end  of  the  long  room  to  the  apartments 
above.  In  the  falfe  door  on  each  fide  of  the  entrance  to  the  inner  room 
below,  is  a  niche  cut  in  a  fhell  at  top;  on  each  fide  of  the  four  middle 
rooms  are  the  apartments  in  the  plan,  and  others  between  them  and  the 
upper  floor.  Thofe  mark'd  K.  1  afcended  to  by  a  hole  on  the  right  fide 
of  the  firft  room,  the  paffage  from  the  flairs  on  the  fouth  end  being 
flopped  up.  In  thefe  apartments  there  are  feveral  fmall  niches  in  the  fides 
of  the  walls,  as  there  are  in  the  rooms  above;  from  them  there  is  a  broken 
paflage  to  the  upper  floor,  which  is  of  a  ftrong  gravelly  cement.  At  I. 
is  the  plan  of  what  remains  of  the  building  above ;  at  a  a.  are  two  re- 
liefs of  men,  with  the  heads  of  crocodiles.  The  moft  extraordinary  part 
of  this  building  is  a  fort  of  a  well  defcending  from  the  upper  ftory  I. 
on  the  eaft  fide,  at  the  narrow  hole  mark'd  f.  as  it  is  likewife  in  the 
feftion  M.  that  leads  into  the  fquare  well  which  one  defcends  by  holes  on 
each  fide,  as  before  defcribed  in  other  wells.  N.  is  the  plan  of  the  nar- 
row cells  g  g.  with  the  well.  There  is  fuch  another  oppofite  to  the  flairs 
at  bottom,  the  upright  of  which  is  mark'd  h.  For  what  purpofe  thefe 
cells  fhould  ferve,  unlefs  to  depofite  the  crocodiles  in,  cannot  well  be 
conceived  ;  for  which  end  it  is  poffible  they  might  in  building  the  wall, 
place  fome  ftones  to  be  taken  out  in  order  to  convey  them  in,  which 
could  not  otherwife  be  done  by  this  narrow  well,  and  poffibly  they  might 
be  the  ftones  at  the  niches  mention'd  on  the  outfide. 

There  are  many  ftones  fcatter'd  about  the  plain  near  this  building,  efpe- 
cially  feveral  round  ones  with  holes  in  the  middle,  which  feem  to  have 
compofed  the  pillars  that  might  be  about  this  building  as  well  as  others, 
and  probably  were  faften'd  together  in  fome  manner  by  means  of  thofe 
holes. 

The  lake  Maoris  '  is  about  two  miles  from  this  building :  Herodotus  and  Lake  M 
Diodorus  fay  it  was  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  round  ;  Pomponius  Mela 
five  hundred.  The  two  former  add  that  it  was  three  hundred  feet  deep 
in  fome  parts ;  Strabo  does  not  mention  the  fize  of  it,  but  by  pafiing  over 
in  filence  this  ftory,  that  it  was  made  by  a  certain  King,  it  is  probable 
he  did  not  give  credit  to  it ;  for  the  two  other  authors  fay  it  was  made 

1  See  the  quotations  in  the  geographical  differtation,  in  the  laft  chapter  of  the  laft  book. 

by 

3 


OBSERVATIONS 


by  King  Maoris  or  Myris ;  and  Diodorus  k  affirms  that  he  made  alfo  the 
canal  to  it  ten  miles  long  and  three  hundred  feet  broad,  which  feems  to 
be  meant  of  the  canal  to  the  eaft  end  by  Tamiea,  tho'  that  is  longer ;  and 
the  great  river  of  Jofeph  I  palled  over,  which  cannot  run  lefs  than  forty 
or  fifty  miles  from  the  Nile,  is  about  the  breadth  mention'd  by  tliefe  au- 
thors, and  feems  to  have  been  originally  not  lefs  than  twenty  feet  deep. 
Herodotus,  when  he  view'd  this  lake,  might  well  be  furprized  at  the  ac- 
count they  gave  him  that  it  was  made  by  art,  and  had  reafon  to  afk  them 
what  they  did  with  the  earth  they  dug  out  ;  but  feems  to  have  too  much 
credulity  to  be  fatisfied,  when  they  told  him  that  they  carried  the  earth  to 
the  Nile,  and  fo  it  was  wafh'd  away  by  the  river ;  for  it  was  very  extraor- 
dinary to  carry  fuch  a  vaft  quantity  of  earth  above  ten  miles  from  the 
neareft  part  of  the  lake,  and  fifty  or  fixty  from  the  further  parts,  even  tho' 
they  might  contrive  water  carriage  for  a  great  part  of  the  way.  This  I 
fhould  imagine  a  thing  beyond  belief,  even  if  the  lake  were  no  larger 
than  it  is  at  prefent;  that  is,  it  may  be  fifty  miles  long,  and  ten  broad. 
Another  thing  is  mention'd  alfo,  which  at  firft  view  feems  very  improba- 
ble ;  and  that  is,  that  the  water  run  into  the  lake  from  the  Nile  for  fix 
months  cf  the  year,  and  for  the  other  fix  months  run  back  again  into  the 
Nile ',  which  I  think  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  fuppofmg  that  the 
water  enter'd  the  lake  fix  months  both  by  the  canal  of  Jofeph,  and  alfo  by 
the  canal  at  the  eaft  end  of  the  lake;  and  that  it  continued  to  run  in  by 
the  canal  of  Jofeph  for  the  greater  part  of  the  other  fix  months,  but  at 
the  fame  time  emptied  itfelf  by  the  canal  to  the  eaft,  the  bed  of  which 
during  that  time  might  be  higher  than  the  water  of  the  Nile  in  that  part, 
when  it  was  fo  low ;  as  it  muft  be  fuppofed  to  be  much  lower  there  than 
at  the  mouth  of  the  canal  of  Jofeph;  fo  that  I  fuppofe  the  water  began 
to  come  in  at  both  canals,  after  it  had  begun  to  rife  for  about  a  month, 
and  for  about  four  months  after  the  waters  began  to  abate :  And  1  myfelf 
faw  a  ffnall  ftream  running  into  the  lake  by  the  great  canal  in  the  month 
of  February,  when  the  Nile  is  very  low.  It  is  mention'd  that  the  defign 
of  the  lake  was  to  hinder  the  Nile  from  overflowing  the  country  too  much, 
which  was  effected  by  drawing  off  fuch  a  quantity  of  water,  when  it  was 
apprehended  that  there  might  be  an  inundation  fufficient  to  hurt  the  land ; 
till  which  time  the  gates  were  doubtlefs  kept  fhut,  and  when  the  flow  was 
moderate,  they  might  not  be  open'd  until  fuch  time  as  the  country  was 
fufficiently  overflow'd.  I  fuppofe  therefore  that  originally  there  was  a 
great  outlet  of  the  Nile  this  way,  it  may  be  into  the  fea  by  the  valley 
call'd  Baher-Bellomah,  or  the  fea  without  water,  which  extends  from 
the  weft  end  of  this  lake  near  as  far  as  the  fea;  that  finding  the  country 
was  not  fufficiently  overflow'd,  they  flopped  the  mouth  of  it  to  the  fea, 
which  caufed  this  great  lake  ;  that  afterwards  the  mouth  of  the  canal  or 
river  by  which  the  water  flow'd  being  accidentally  flopped  up,  all  the 
lake  became  dry,  giving  occafion  for  the  tradition  that  the  fpot  of  the 
lake  was  formerly  all  a  plain  or  fields  m;  that  the  country  afterwards  being 

k  Atugvya         in  T?  arolo;^?  Halzextvotiriv  a'f  t>j\     tjplQIIV  lle*rfl»  T«A«i1ou  in  tojv  sjreav 

tijMW,  tySwKoflx  ^£V  yaJ/wv  TO  rfK©*,  T^We^OU  S't      S't  Iffy  TO  tSuq    Sff    Blil,   fiWl  jUotao.  HdOtlotUS 

to1  wAaVof.  Diodorus  1.  i.  p.  48.  J.  ii.  c.  100. 

'  "E?  ps,  fif.at  %tu  (in  is  rjji  a/mw,  E|  Si  fv«s  ™  Sec  quotation  in  geographical  differtation,  in 
?{«  it  to'»  Na~Ao»  «Zth.  Ktu  train       a(i)  t|»    the  laft  chapter  of  the  laft  book. 

zk,  TOTS  T»ff   fij  UY,V(tS    is  TO  £«flAi;lOK  X«7ac«AA«  fTT 

much 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  65 

much  incommoded  by  inundations,  Maoris  open'd  this  mouth,  cleanfed  this 
canal,  put  floodgates,  and  it  may  be  in  fame  parts  towards  the  entrance, 
funk  the  lake  lower,  and  that  this  might  give  rife  to  the  tradition  that  he 
made  the  lake.  At  this  time  the  lake  was  very  much  retired  within  its 
banks.  We  went  along  on  the  fouth  fide  to  the  eaft  at  fome  diftance  from 
it,  and  I  could  not  perfuade  the  Arabs  to  go  to  the  lake ;  fo  I  left  them 
and  went  alone ;  but  feeing  I  was  determined  to  go,  after  fome  time  they 
lent  one  of  their  company  to  attend  me,  and  came  themfelves  towards 
the  lake  to  meet  me.  There  is,  a  gentle  defcent  to  the  banks  of  the  lake, 
which  are  broken,  and  of  a  black  foil ;  it  was  then  half  a  mile  from  the 
bank  to  the  water,  firft  on  a  flaty  ground,  and  then  on  a  deep  flimy 
mud  incrufted  at  top  with  a  thin  cake  of  fait.  I  waded  along  through 
it  with  much  difficulty,  and  came  to  the  water,  which  is  almoft  as  fait 
as  the  fea,  and  of  a  difagreeable  muddy  tafte  ;  it  contracts  thefe  qualities 
from  the  nitre  that  is  in  the  earth,  and  from  the  fait  that  is  every  year  left 
on  the  mud  ;  it  is  obferved  that  the  water  is  not  fo  fait  towards  the  parts 
where  it  enters  from  the  Nile.  I  faw  no  fort  of  fhells  on  the  banks  of  the 
lake ;  and  it  is  faid  it  has  no  fifli  in  it,  but  fuch  as  are  found  in  the  Nile. 
They  catch  the  fifh  in  great  quantities,  efpecially  when  the  lake  is  low,  and 
bring  them  to  Faiume  market,  where  they  are  fold  very  cheap.  As  I 
think  this  lake  is  never  entirely  dry,  fo  it  is  probable  they  always  throw 
in  what  fmall  fifh  they  find,  and  great  quantities  coming  in  with  the  Nile 
water,  may  be  the  reafons  why  the  lake  fo  much  abounds  in  fifh  as  it  did 
formerly,  which  brought  in  a  great  revenue  to  the  Kings  of  Egypt.  On 
the  other  fide  of  the  lake,  what  they  told  me  was  the  ifland,  appears  inand  in  the; 
like  a  head  of  land  fetting  out  into  the  lake  in  a  femicircular  figure  with  lake' 
white  clifts,  and  a  height  above,  which  poflibly  might  be  the  lower  part 
of  thofe  two  pyramids,  which  are  faid  °  to  have  been  built  in  it  by  Maoris 
for  himfelf  and  his  Queen,  and  were  fix  hundred  feet  high,  three  hun- 
dred feet  being  under  the  water.  A  coloffal  ftatue  fitting  was  placed  on 
each  of  them.  It  is  difficult  to  go  to  this  ifland,  as  their  boats  are  very 
bad,  and  there  would  be  great  danger  if  the  wind  fhould  rife.  I  faw 
fome  large  buildings  north  of  the  lake ;  they  faid  there  was  a  convent  at 
that  place,  call'd  Der-El-Harakatelmy  ;  but  the  buildings  feem'd  to  me 
to  be  fome  remains  of  antiquity,  which  might  be  converted  into  a  mo- 
naftery.  They  mention'd  alfo  a  place  call'd  Ryan,  to  the  fouth  weft  of 
the  lake,  and  faid  there  were  fome  pyramids  near  it ;  tho'  I  gave  more 
credit  to  what  they  faid  of  a  lake  call'd  Birk-Al-Garieh,  near  a  day's  jour- 
ney to  the  weft,  becaufe  other  travellers  have  had  the  fame  account.  I 
obferved  about  this  lake  feveral  roots  in  the  ground,  that  feem'd  to  me  to 
be  the  remains  of  vines,  for  which  the  country  about  the  lake  was  for- 
merly famous.  Where  there  is  little  moifture  in  the  air,  and  it  rains  fo 
feldom,  wood  may  remain  found  a  great  while,  tho'  it  is  not  known 
how  long  thefe  vineyards  have  been  deftroy'd. 

The  common  people  here  have  ftrong  traditions  about  Caroon;  they  The  fab|e  o| 
fay  he  was  a  King,  -and  had  keys  to  his  treafures  that  loaded  two  hun-  Charon, 
dred  camels.    One  would  imagine  from  this  that  the  fable  of  Charon 
might  have  its  rife  here,  and  that  this  name  might  be  the  title  of  the 

n  E*  f*Eo-ij  tij  Ai'wj.;  y.r/.Kt-z  x>j  'aim  Sua  su^^lh;    to  x«t'  ojej^.  ihu&oufttu  tre^oi'  TOrSTOV.  Herodotus 
t»  uja?^-  uVtg6^Bir*a'  w£vt)i'mv7«  o%yi<»i  £xaT££t|'  1^    1.  ii.  c,  149, 

Vol.  I.  S  chief 


OBSERVATIONS 


chief  perfon  who  had  the  care  of  the  Labyrinth,  and  of  the  fepulchres  in 
and  about  it,  and  kept  the  keys  of  thefe  numerous  apartments ;  that  no 
one  could  be  buried  in  thefe  places  unlefs  orders  were  fent  to  him,  who 
might  have  the  care  and  infpection  of  the  public  funerals ;  and  their  Kings 
might  fome  of  them  be  carried  over  to  the  ifland,  or  be  brought  by  wa- 
ter to  this  place,  under  the  direction  of  this  great  officer,  who  when 
princes  had  behaved  ill,  might  be  forbid  to  inter  them,  as  judges  were  ap- 
pointed to  determine  whether  the  perfon  were  worthy  of  burial.  It  is 
poflible  they  might  give  fome  token,  the  obolus,  to  iignify  to  the  pro- 
per officer  that  they  might  have  fepulchral  honours  done  to  them ;  and 
this  lake  might  be  called  Acherufia,  and  the  name  be  afterwards  given  to 
other  places  paffed  over  for  the  fame  purpofe;  as  Diodorus  obferves  the 
lake  at  Memphis  was  fo  call'd,  who  gives  a  particular  account  of  the 
whole  ceremony  *.  Poflibly  this  at  firft  might  be  the  pradice  only  with 
regard  to  their  princes  carried  acrofs  this  lake  to  the  ifland,  and  in  time 
might  come  to  be  extended  farther  to  all  people  in  general,  who  were 
not  to  be  admitted  to  have  the  honour  of  interment,  unlefs  they  brought 
with  them  a  clear  reputation,  the  token,  the  teffera  or  obolus  that  was  to 
waft  them  to  the  Elyfian  fields. 

Turning  to  the  fouth,  when  we  were  above  a  league  from  Cafr-Caroon, 
we  went  about  two  leagues  up  a  gentle  afcent,  and  came  to  the  high 
ground  where  there  is  a  ruin'd  convent  of  unburnt  brick,  many  ruins  of 
the  fame  materials,  and  feveral  heaps  of  potfherds  and  rubbifh,  as  if  there 
had  been  a  large  town  in  that  place.  About  two  leagues  further  we  came 
to  the  cultivated  land,  and  flopping  a  while  to  refrefh  our  cattle,  went 
a  league  and  a  half  further  to  the  Neile,  where  the  Caimacam  invited 
us  to  his  houfe  ;  and  I  went  to  repofe,  very  much  fatigued  with  this  ex- 
pedition of  eighteen  hours  in  perpetual  motion.  The  Caimacam  was  very 
felicitous  about  a  prefent  of  coffee  I  was  to  fend  him  from  Faiume,  and 
attended  me  the  next  day  within  a  few  miles  of  that  town  with  his  Arabs 
and  flaves,  who  diverted  themfelves  in  the  road  in  riding  after  one  another 
in  their  manner.  When  we  had  paffed  Topar,  we  left  the  road  to  the 
fouth  that  we  came  in,  and  the  great  man  fitting  down  to  repofe,  we 
left  him,  and  foon  came  to  Sambour,  and  from  that  place  to  Faiume. 
When  I  was  at  Nefle,  I  treated  with  the  Arabs  to  conduit  me  to  the  two 
great  pyramids  of  Davara,  which  I  faw,  as  I  fuppofe,  ten  or  twelve  miles 
fouth  of  Faiume  ;  but  being  to  the  fouth  of  the  great  canal,  they  in- 
form'd  me  that  this  was  the  only  way  to  them :  They  demanded  fo  extra- 
vagant a  price,  that  I  concluded  they  did  not  care  to  go,  and  they  affured 
me  there  would  be  much  danger  in  the  voyage,  as  they  might  chance  to 
fall  in  with  their  enemies,  in  which  cafe  they  told  us  they  muft  fly  and 
leave  us  to  be  plunder 'd.  At  the  diftance  I  was  at,  I  could  not  well  dif- 
cern  what  fort  of  pyramids  they  were  ;  they  appear'd  like  two  hills,  being 
probably  much  decay'd.  They  affured  me  that  the  materials  they  are  built 
of  is  of  unburnt  brick:  A  perfon  who  view'd  them  near,  if  he  maybe 
credited,  defcribes  one  of  them  as  built  with  three  ftories  of  arched  niches 
all  round. 

*  Diodorus  J.  i.  p.  82,  85. 

3  I  fet 


ON  EGYPT. 

I  Cct  out  for  Cairo  with  the  caravan,  and  went  the  firfl.  day  to  Tamiea, 
where  we  lay  in  the  yard  of  a  cane  under  my  tent;  there  being  no  rooms, 
except  a  few  huts  inhabited  by  public  harlots.  We  went  the  next  day  a 
long  journey  without  flopping,  to  Dafhour  ;  from  which  place  I  went 
the  day  after  to  Saccara,  as  mention'd  before,  and  fo  arrived  at  Grand 
Cairo. 


A 


DESCRIP- 


OBSERVATIONS 


:«3 


A 

DESCRIPTION 

O  F 

The  EAST,  &c. 


BOOK  II. 

From  Grand  Cairo  to  the  antient 
Ethiopia,  above  the  Cataract  of  the 
Nile,  and  back  to  Cairo  and  D  a- 

MIATA. 


CHAP.  I. 

Of  Archomounain,  Gaua,  and  other  places  in  the 
way  to  Akmim. 

HAVING  determined  to  make  the  voyage  of  upper  Egypt, 
the  conful  procured  me  letters  from  the  great  Sheik  Ofman  Bey 
(who  was  Sheik-Bellet,  or  head  and  protector  of  the  Arab  race) 
to  the  Bey  of  Girge,  to  the  Prince  of  Akmim,  and  to  the  great  Sheik  at 
Furfhout.  I  provided  every  thing  as  for  a  long  voyage ;  flores  of  coffee, 
rice,  tobacco,  foap,  red  fhoes  of  the  Arabs,  and  feveral  other  things  for 
prefents,  and  took  care  to  have  fufficient  arms  for  our  defence.  I  had 
the  good  fortune  to  meet  with  a  boat  of  the  prince  of  Akmim,  and  to  be 
recommended  to  Malim  Soliman  who  was  going  in  it,  a  very  worthy  ca- 
tholic copti,  for  whom  I  fhall  always  have  the  utmoft  regard.  He  was 
the  chief  perfon  in  managing  the  affairs  of  that  prince,  although  he  would 
never  accept  of  any  office  under  him,  thereby  prudently  avoiding  the 
danger  of  having  his  family  ruin'd,  it  having  been  the  cuftom  of  thefe 
princes,  as  it  is  much  all  over  Turkey,  to  feize  on  what  is  got  in  their  fer- 
vice,  when  any  of  their  officers  die,  being  only  (as  they  fay)  taking  their 
own  again :  And  tho'  he  might  have  been  fecure  by  the  goodnefs  of  the 
s  prefent 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  69 

prefent  prince,  yet  his  family  might  have  a  harder  fate  under  another, 
from  whom  he  might  not  hereafter  be  able  to  withdraw  himfelf.  It  was 
thought  proper  I  fhould  take  on  me  a  name  that  the  people  are  ufed  to, 
fo  it  was  agreed  that  I  fhould  be  called  Jofeph,  with  the  ufual  title  of 
Chtiftians  in  this  country,  malim  or  mafter.  1  had  alfo  let  my  beard 
grow,  and  put  myfelf  exadly  in  the  habit  of  a  copti,  with  the  black 
ferijee  or  gown  of  ceremony,  and  had  a  large  blue  and  white  towel  or 
handkerchief  loofe  about  my  neck,  hanging  down  before,  and  on  other 
occafions  a  large  meet  of  the  fame  kind,  which  is  brought  round  the 
body  and  over  the  head  ;  not  without  the  blue  garment  or  fhirt,  which  is 
put  on  over  all,  to  go  out  with  at  any  time  in  difguife  with  the  boatmen. 
In  this  manner  1  fet  out  with  my  fervant  and  dragoman,  or  interpreter. 
On  the  fixth  of  December  one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and  thirty-feven, 
about  noon,  we  embark'd  in  a  fmall  hired  boat,  the  vefl'el  we  were  to  go 
in  to  Akmim  having  left  the  port,  and  gone  half  a  day's  journey  up  the 
river,  for  fear  of  being  preffed  to  carry  the  foldiers  to  Rofetto,  which  the 
Grand  Signior  had  fent  for  to  Conftantinople,  to  go  to  the  war  againft  the 
Emperor  and  the  Mufcovites.  Setting  out,  I  was  fhewn  on  the  height 
which  is  to  the  fouth  of  the  narrow  eaftern  plain,  a  ruin'd  tower  which 
they  call  the  tower  of  King  Antar.  They  have  alfo  a  tradition  of  fome 
buildings  of  this  King  on  the  fide  of  Babylon  ■  but  who  he  was  I  could 
not  be  inform'd,  being  probably  fome  King  of  Egypt,  who  goes  by  ano- 
ther name  in  hiftory  *.  Before  we  came  to  this  place,  we  had  Ofman  to 
the  weft.  About  this  place  poffibly  might  be  Acanthus,  where  0  Strabo 
feems  to  fay  there  was  a  temple  of  Ofiris,  and  a  wood  of  Thebaick  Acan- 
tha,  which  produced  gums.  This  probably  was  Acacia,  the  Thebaick 
Acantha  or  bum  ;  and  'tis  not  improbable  that  the  city  itfelf  had  its  name 
from  this  wood.  This  tree  is  very  common  in  Egypt,  under  the  name  of 
Sount,  and  is  much  the  fame  as  the  Acacia  call'd  Cyale,  in  Arabia  Petrasa, 
which  I  am  inform'd  produces  the  Gum  Egyptian,  or  Arabic.  At  night 
we  came  up  to  the  great  boat  at  Turphaier,  which  is  on  the  ifle  that 
I  fuppofe  to  be  the  great  ifle  of  Heracleopolis  p,  made  by  a  canal  crofting  Heraclcopi 
from  this  great  river  to  the  old  bed  of  the  Nile  under  the  hills.  This lis- 
weftern  channel  the  people  call  the  old  channel  at  this  time,  which  con- 
firms what  I  have  faid  in  another  place  on  this  fubjeft. 

The  large  boats,  call'd  marfhes,  fuch  as  we  embark'd  on,  have  a  maft 
about  the  middle,  and  another  towards  the  prow  ;  they  cover  part  of  the 
boat  with  matting,  by  means  of  poles  fet  up  an  end,  with  others  tied 
acrofs  at  the  top  of  them,  under  which  fhelter  the  people  fit  and  repofe  all 
night.  On  the  feventh  we  went  on  with  a  gentle  wind,  having  had  a  view 
of  the  pyramids  of  Saccara  and  Dafhour,  to  the  north  weft  from  Tur- 
phaier. We  paffed  by  many  villages,  and  coming  to  Stalhiteh  on  the  eaft, 
I  faw  on  the  weft  fide  oppofite  to  it,  at  fome  diftance,  what  appear'd  to 
me  at  firft  like  a  fmall  high  hill  with  a  ruin  on  it,  fomething  in  the 
fhape  of  a  pyramid.    When  I  had  a  better  view  of  it,  it  appear'd  as  re- 

*  Diodorus  1.  i.  p.  82,  86.  t  "e&  i  'Hj^kWtw  >ofw  <»  »('«■»  fis^itAj.  Ibid. 

0  Met»  S't  M£p£ iv  vAit«*&e?  ze-o'aj?  o'poiwj      iv  t£   Heracleopolices  eft  infula  Nili,  longa  pafTuum 

Ai£u'i),it,  to  T»'0(Ti'e>J@' lEfoy.x,  to  T^r'Ax«v&jjf  quinquaginta  mille,  in  qua  eft  oppidum  Herculis 

•nit  QyQcuxSis,  i%  h  to  ito'^i.    Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.    appeliatum.  Pliti.  Nat.  Hijl.  xxxvii.  c.  5. 

809.  .'  Wi 

Vol.  I.  T  prefented 


7o  OBSERVATIONS 

prelented  at  C.  in  the  twentieth  plate.    They  aflured  me  that  not  only 
the  upper  part,  but  the  whole  which  appears  like  a  hill,  is  built ;  the 
The  great  or  Chriftians  call  it  the  great  pyramid,  (Al-Herem-Kiebir)  but  the  Maho- 
falfe pyramid.  metans  caU  it  the  faIfe  ?yram[^  (Al- Herem  Elkadab.)    To  go  to  it,  they 

fay,  one  may  land  at  Efououd,  but  the  moft  convenient  place  is  Righah, 
from  which  it  is  half  a  day's  journey  ;  that  is,  I  fuppofe,  about  ten  miles. 
To  go  to  this  pyramid,  it  is  neceffary  to  have  a  man  from  the  Sheik  of  this 
country,  call'd  Elkebery,  who  lives  at  Mocanan.    I  imagine  that  this  is  a 
fmall  hill,  probably  artificial,  and  that  it  may  have  been  cafed  with  ftone, 
or  unburnt  brick ;  I  think  they  faid  the  latter,  and  that  what  appears  at 
top  is  a  pyramid  of  an  extraordinary  figure  built  on  it.    We  arrived  at 
Righah  that  night,  where  we  ftaid  ;  it  being  the  cuftom  going  up  always 
to  lie  by  at  night,  as  there  are  many  fhoals  in  the  Nile,  and  travellers  al- 
ways lie  in  the  boat,  and  keep  a  watch  to  defend  themfelves  againft  any 
attack,  or  to  hinder  people  from  coming  privately  to  the  fide  of  the 
boat,  as  they  fometimes  do,  and  fteal  any  thing  they  can  conveniently 
find.    It  is  faid,  with  what  truth  I  know  not,  that  fometimes  the  rogues 
have  come  to  plunder  boats  with  their  naked  bodies  befmear'd  all  over 
with  oyl  or  greafe,  that  if  the  boatmen  mould  attempt  to  lay  hold  of 
Convent  of  them,  they  might  the  more  eafily  flip  out  of  their  hands.    On  the  eighth, 
St.  Antony.  tj,ere  t>eing  very  little  wind,  we  went  afhoar  on  the  eaft,  at  the  convent 
of  St.  Antony:  Here,  as  in  moft  of  the  convents  of  Egypt,  the  priefts  are 
feculars,  fo  that  they  live  in  the  convent  with  their  wives  and  children. 
Several  of  them  were  employ 'd  in  bringing  ftones  to  repair  their  convent, 
and  thinking  we  were  officers  come  to  demand  the  poll  tax,  when  we 
alk'd  how  many  there  were  in  the  convent,  they  acknowledged  no  more 
than  thofe  we  faw ;  but  when  they  were  undeceived,  they  fhew'd  us  their 
convent  with  much  humility,  and  it  was  proper  that  we  fhould  leave  them 
fome  charity,  as  they  are  very  poor.    The  convent  is  encompafled  with 
a  wall  to  defend  them  againft  robbers;  they  have  a  tolerable  church,  and 
they  fhew  feveral  things  relating  to  St.  Antony,  who  they  fay  went  from 
this  place  into  the  defert  by  the  red  fea,  and  was  there  the  firft  founder  of 
the  monaftic  life.    They  told  us  they  expected  their  bifhop  that  day  to  offi- 
ciate in  their  church;  for  the  bifhops  here  ipend  moft  of  their  time  going 
round  their  diftridl  officiating  in  their  churches,  and  collecting  the  dues 
that  belong  to  themfelves  and  the  patriarch.    There  are  no  churches  a- 
bout  the  country  but  what  are  called  monafteries,  becaufe  probably  few 
except  thofe  of  the  monafteries  were  fuffer'd  to  remain.    As  crocodiles 
are  hardly  ever  feen  io  low  as  this,  they  are  very  fond  of  ftories  that  they 
can  go  no  lower,  and  that  if  they  come  fo  far  they  turn  on  their  backs. 
They  relate  the  fame  of  St.  George's  convent  much  lower,  fome  pretend- 
ing to  attribute  this  to  their  faith,  others  to  talifmans. 

We  came  up  with  the  ifle  and  large  village  or  town  of  Sment,  and  foon 
after  to  a  fmall  fandy  ifland  oppofite  to  Benadi,  where  I  faw  a  little  cro- 
codile, being  the  firft  we  had  met  with.    We  came  to  a  town  call'd 
Bouche,  the  Bouche,  on  the  canal  which  goes  to  Faiume  ;  it  is  probable  that  this  was 
Ptoicmais     Ptolemais,  the  port  of  Arfinoe  mention'd  by  Ptolemy  '.    We  came  after  to 
Bcnefuief.     Benefuief,  which  is  a  town  about  a  mile  round,  very  ill  built,  of  unburnt 


*  'AfoWij  x,  c?f<@.  n»Xip«SV.  Ptoi.  1.  iv.  c.  5. 


ON    EGYPT.  7r 

brick  ;  it  is  the  capital  of  a  province  of  that  name,  and  here  a  Sangiak 
or  Bey  refides.  They  have  great  manufactures  of  a  ftriped  narrow  carpet 
fluff  without  napp,  made  of  wool  and  coarfe  thread.  They  are  ufed  by 
inferior  people  to  cover  the  cufhions  of  fophas;  they  make  alfo  coats  for 
their  children  of  this  fluff  without  fleeves,  being  wove  fo  as  to  ferve  for 
that  purpofe  without  being  cut. 

We  paffed  by  Berangieh,  where  there  is  a  fmall  hill  to  the  fouth,  call'd 
Coum-el-Arab,  and  to  the  porth  of  it  are  feveral  fmall  hillocks,  fo  that 
probably  this  was  an  antient  place,  and  for  that  reafon  as  well  as  the  fi- 
tuation,  I  fuppofe  it  to  be  Cynopolis  ',  the  capital  of  a  province  of  that  Cynopolis, 
name,  in  which  Anubis  was  worfhipped,  and  dogs  were  had  in  great  ho- 
nour, and  a  certain  facred  food  was  allotted  to  them.  It  is  faid  the  rife 
of  this  was  owing  to  Anubis,  a  companion  of  Oliris,  his  wearing  as  an 
emblem  of  his  courage,  the  dog's  (kin  for  armour,  as  Macedon  his  other 
companion  wore  the  (kin  of  a  wolf ;  on  which  account  fome  fay  thefe 
animals  came  to  be  worlhipped :  And  this  feems  the  more  probable,  as 
thefe  Deities  are  reprefented  with  human  bodies,  with  the  heads  of  thefe 
beads,  which  might  have  its  rife  from  their  bringing  the  upper  part  of  the 
(kins  over  their  heads ;  as  Hercules  is  reprefented  with  the  (kin  of  a  lion 
as  well  as  thofe  who  defired  to  be  thought  like  him  We  paffed  by 
Bibeh,  a  little  town  where  there  is  a  convent  of  St.  George;  we  after 
came  up  with  the  large  ifle  of  Fetne,  which  is  a  very  fruitful  fpot  5  it 
was  planted  with  melons  and  cucumbers,  in  rows  about  fix  feet  apart, 
with  the  canes  of  Turkey  wheat  ftuck  in  obliquely  over  them  to  defend 
them  from  the  weather,  and  in  fome  parts  a  fort  of  rufh  or  grafs  call'd  lefe 
is  fet  along  in  a  trench  over  the  young  plants ;  which  fort  of  grars  they  like- 
wife  ufe  to  make  ropes  in  this  country.  Here  we  lay  by  at  night,  and 
another  boat  having  faften'd  to  the  eaft  fide,  they  fhot  at  a  man  that  was 
coming  towards  it,  as  they  fuppofed,  to  fteal  fomething,  who  as  they  told 
me,  went  off  crying  out  as  if  he  had  been  wounded,  and  the  boat  moved 
over  to  the  weft,  which  is  always  the  fafer  fide.  To  this  place  the  hills 
on  the  eaft  fide  coming  near  the  river,  the  country  is  very  little  inhabited 
above  the  convent  of  St.  Antony ;  and  thofe  that  are  on  the  eaft  fide  are 
moftly  Arabs,  who  fubmit  to  no  government,  infomuch  that  when  I  re- 
turn'd,  the  boatmen  made  an  exprefs  agreement  that  they  fliould  not  be 
obliged  to  go  to  any  place  on  the  eaft,  but  where  they  pleafed. 

On  the  ninth  we  had  little  wind,  and  lay  by  about  noon  at  the  port  of 
Fetne;  we  proceeded  on  our  voyage  and  went  by  Sharony  on  the  eaft. 
I  obfcrved  ftones  along  the  fhoar,  which  feem'd  to  be  the  ruins  of  a  very 
thick  wall  of  a  port  or  quay ;  I  likewife  faw  two  little  hills,  one  above  a 
mile  fouth  of  the  other,  and  to  the  eaft  of  the  fouthern  hill  is  another, 
which  feem'd  to  have  had  fome  buildings  on  it.  Thefe  hills  and  the  ruins 
I  faw,  made  me  conjecture  that  fome  antient  town  might  be  here  ;  and 
it  agrees  beft  with  the  fituation  of  Mufa;  of  the  itinerary.  We  flopped  all  Abougirge, 
night  a  little  above  a  fmall  town  call'd  Abou-girge,  which  is  a  bifliop's  fee:  °I,°syn"~ 

3  E£*f  S  eViv  0  Kuvo7ToAi't>k  vo^off  «,  Kvvcuu  sroA(f  h  pj)  zjfgi  cuj-iXs  Eu'rotyuV  rev  y.iv  yag  'AvssGlv  STE&tSsoS-iw 

v,  0  Avs£ic  Tiftotraw,  >t,  -rare  xvfi  Tifj.^  tij  ciTiffiff  T£r«KTiti'  xu>r,v,  tcv  <Te  MajtEjoV*  Au'jts  vt^rop.w'  a<p'  r,i  euztue 

lis  ''fesi.  Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  8  12.  j,  ri  fa  ™t«  Tipi9ii>«<  sra^  ™s  'AijWW. 

c  Tw  J'    'Oo-i'g/Ji  o-u^f^l6vo9-ou  tfsf  'AixGtv  Tf  Kj  Diodorus  I.  i.  p.  16.   See  alfo  p,  77.  for  other 

Muni!"*,  £*$t£tvl£f  MgHQ'  ei/i$«TfW  Je  y^wat&a*  reafons  given  for  this  worfhip. 
Tcft  ETTiff^tTteioif  STAotf  ecVe  nvm  £tt'av  sot  dwiKiiw 

This 

3 


OBSERVATIONS 

This  I  fuppole  to  be  Oxyrinchus,  capital  of  the  province  of  that  name, 
fo  call'd  from  a  fifh  «  they  worfhipped  all  over  Egypt,  but  principally'  in 
this  place,  where  they  had  a  temple  built  to  this  Deity  ;  for  there  were  fe- 
veral  animals,  which  tho'  they  were  particularly  honour'd  in  fome  places, 
yet  were  worfhipped  throughout  all  Egypt ;  as  the  lepidotus  or  fcaly  fifh, 
the  hawk,  and  the  ibis,  the  bull,  the  dog,  and  the  cat w.  Here  they  faid  we 
were  a  third  part  of  the  way  to  Akmim,  which  is  about  three  degrees  and 
a  half  from  Cairo.  On  the  tenth  I  faw  many  Arabs  at  a  diftance  on  horle- 
back  on  the  weft  fide,  and  going  a  little  way  from  the  boat,  one  of  them 
made  towards  me,  and  another  after  him  ,•  I  retired  to  the  boat,  and  they 
came  pretty  near  and  took  a  view  of  us.  We  paffed  by  Aboufagat-Beni- 
fama  on  the  eaft;  there  is  a  large  houfe  near,  which  belong'd  to  Sara 
Cafhif,  who  as  they  told  me,  fled  to  this  place  out  of  Cairo,  when  they 
affaflinated  eight  of  their  Beys  at  once  in  a  vifit  they  were  making  in  one 
thoufand  feven  hundred  and  thirty ;  he  return'd  after  to  Cairo,  and  lay 
hid  in  the  houfe  of  a  Chriftian;  but  a  ftridr.  fearch  being  made  after  him, 
he  fled  towards  the  Red  fea,  where  as  they  told  me,  he  married  a  Sheik's 
daughter,  and  was  at  that  time  in  arms.  It  was  now  the  time  of  the 
Turkifh  Ramafan  or  faft,  fo  call'd  from  the  month  in  which  it  is  kept ; 
and  it  was  very  hard  on  the  boatmen  to  tow  up  the  bark,  as  they  were 
obliged  to  do  when  we  had  no  wind  ,-  for  during  this  month  they  are  not 
allow'd  to  eat,  drink,  fmoak,  or  take  any  pleafure  from  fun  riling  to  fun 
fet ;  and  as  a  Turkifh  month  happens  at  all  times  of  the  year  in  the  term 
of  two  or  three  and  thirty  years,  it  is  a  great  hardfhip  on  the  poor,  who 
are  obliged  to  work  in  the  fummer,  and  are  only  allow'd  to  wafh  their 
mouths  with  water;  but  they  pafs  the  night  in  feafting  and  pleafure,  if 
they  can  afford  it.  The  firft  thing  they  take  after  this  faft  is  a  draught  of 
water,  then  they  fmoak,  drink  their  coffee,  and  make  their  great  meal ; 
after  midnight  they  take  another  plentiful  repaft  and  go  to  fleep  ;  but 
thofe  who  have  nothing  to  do,  lit  up  all  night  and  fleep  the  greater  part  of 
the  day,  fo  that  this  faft  does  not  prove  in  the  leaft  inconvenient  to  them. 
When  we  palled  by  this  place,  the  Arabs  call'd  to  the  mafter  of  the  boat 
to  come  afhoar  and  give  them  fome  tobacco,  who  anfwer'd,  in  order  to 
frighten  them,  that  the  janizaries  in  the  boat  would  give  them  tobacco  ,- 
but  as  we  had  a  dinner  preparing,  and  they  faw  the  fmoak,  they  reply 'd 
in  their  cool  manner,  that  the  janizaries  were  dreffmg  dinner,  intimating 
that  by  this  they  knew  we  were  Chriftians.  On  this  we  all  fhew'd  our- 
felves  in  the  habits  of  Mahometans,  and  fo  they  went  away  ;  however  it 
was  a  caution  to  us  for  the  future,  not  to  difcover  by  this  means  that  there 
were  Chriftians  on  board,  which  might  have  encouraged  the  Arabs  to 
make  an  attempt  upon  us.  On  the  eleventh  we  made  very  little  way.  I 
obferved  on  the  weft  fide,  the  bank  within  the  bed  of  the  river  was  fow'd 
all  the  way  to  the  water.  In  the  night  they  faw  a  man  fwimming  to- 
wards the  boat,  but  calling  out  he  return'd  to  the  fhoar;  for  they  fre- 
quently come  in  the  night,  and  hanging  on  the  fide  of  the  boat,  fteal  any 
thing  they  can  moft  conveniently  lay  their  hands  on,  whilft  the  people  are 
afleep.    On  the  twelfth  we  came  to  the  hills  on  the  eaft,  that  end  at  the 

u  'o£v'§u^@-  HroAir,  ^  vo^o;  o/Aw'yu^oi-  iifAuffi  Js       w  Strabo  ibid. 

TO*  O|v£uj/£ov,  tij  £;iv  tajrali  I'egaa  '0|vgu'y^s.  Strabo 

L  xvii.  p.  8 1 2. 

%  river, 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  73 

river,  part  of  them  having  the  name  of  Codrickfhan.  The  men  being 
obliged  to  tow,  I  went  afhoar  there,  and  obferved  that  feveral  grottos  were 
cut  all  over  the  mountains,  which  were  without  doubt  the  fepulchres  of 
the  people  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  river.  I  law  alfo  what  I  took  to  be 
the  bed  of  a  canal  cut  in  between  the  hills,  which  poffibly  might  be  to 
convey  water  to  the  eaft  :  All  thefe  hills  are  rocks  of  petrified  fhells,  moftly 
the  cockle,  and  fome  flat  fhell,  and  alfo  leveral  large  oyfter  fhells.  To 
the  fouth  of  thefe  hills  is  a  fine  fpot  of  ground  belonging  to  a  village  of 
the  Arabs  in  the  middle  of  it,  call'd  Cerefia  ;  it  is  finely  improved,  and 
they  have  tobacco  there,  which  I  was  inform'd  is  not  good.  We  came 
to  a  town  call'd  Samalout,  where  there  is  a  moique  with  a  minaret,  the 
only  one  I  had  feen  fince  I  had  left  Cairo.  That  night  our  boat  flopped 
about  eight  o'  clock,  and  then  went  on  a  little  further  about  nine,  which 
I  fuppofed  was  to  avoid  any  danger  by  flaying  in  a  place  where  people 
might  obferve  we  had  halted  in  the  evening.  On  the  thirteenth  we  came 
to  the  hills  on  the  eaft,  which  are  clofe  to  the  river,  and  are  call'd  Jebel 
Ockfeir,  becaufe  it  is  a  great  harbour  for  all  forts  of  birds  ;  there  are 
many  grottos  in  it,  and  on  the  top  of  it  is  a  convent  which  has  lands ;  but 
they  are  obliged  to  receive  and  entertain  every  body  that  comes. 

On  the  fourteenth  we  had  a  good  wind,  and  paffed  by  Minio  on  the  Minio. 
weft,  a  neat  town  in  comparifon  of  the  others,  and  the  refidence  of  the 
Cafhif  of  the  province  of  that  name  ;  higher  we  paffed  Souadi,  a  fmall 
town  to  the  eaft. 

We  came  up  with  the  ruin'd  city  of  Antinoopolis,  now  call'd  Enfineh  :  Aminoo] 
Some  fay  there  was  antiently  a  city  here  call'd  Befa;  but  Antinous,  who  lis' 
accompanied  Hadrian  into  Egypt,  being  drowned  there,  that  Emperor  built 
this  city,  and  call'd  it  after  the  name  of  his  favourite,  to  whom  he  infti- 
tuted  games  and  divine  honours :  It  was  made  alfo  the  capital  »  of  a  new 
province  of  that  name,  taken  out  of  the  laft  of  the  feven  provinces, 
call'd  Heptanomis.  It  is  faid  the  city  was  three  or  four  miles  round.  I 
faw  a  large  pillar  with  a  Corinthian  capital,  and  a  lquare  ftone  or  plinth 
on  the  top,  which  was  probably  to  fet  fome  ftatue  on ;  it  is  faid  there  were 
four  of  thefe.  I  had  alfo  a  view  of  a  very  fine  gate  of  the  Corinthian 
order,  of  exquifite  workmanfhip;  a  plan  and  upright  of  which  may  be 
feen  in  the  twenty-fourth  plate,  mark'd  A.  B.  Near  this  place  is  a  village 
of  Chriftians,  call'd  Ebadie,  whofe  greateft  fecurity,  among  fuch  very  bad 
people,  feems  to  be  a  notion  that  has  prevail'd,  that  no  Mahometan  can 
live  in  that  place.  Higher  is  the  convent  of  St.  John  (Der-Abou-Ennis) 
where  there  are  feveral  priefts ;  and  a  little  further  on  is  Meloui,  near  a 
mile  to  the  weft  of  the  river.  This  town  is  about  a  mile  round,  and  Meloui. 
makes  a  tolerable  appearance  within,  the  fhops  being  well  built;  it  is  at 
the  head  of  nine  villages,  which  are  altogether  a  fmall  principality  belong- 
ing to  Mecca;  fo  that  the  Emir- Hadge,  who  is  commonly  one  of  the 
greateft  Beys,  and  has  the  care  of  conducting  the  caravan  to  Mecca,  is 
mafter  of  it,  and  fends  a  Sardar  to  govern  the  country,  who  lives  in  as 
much  ftate  as  the  Cafhifs  and  other  great  governors.  As  this  is  a  place  of 
great  honour  and  profit,  lo  it  is  commonly  given  to  one  of  the  greateft 
people  of  thofe  that  have  been  flaves  to  the  Emir- Hadge.    This  place  fup- 

w  Si  «va"oAuiv  Ta  arbapy  Nspsf  'Avlivofrift,  *i  itj  jUJ^OffoAlf  ST*  flU/'ia  'Avtvox  SIoAlf.  Ptol.  iv.  C.  5. 

Vol.  I.  TJ  plies 


74  OBSERVATIONS 

plies  Mecca  with  three  hundred  and  ninety  thoufand  adeps  or  facks  of  corn 
every  year,  which  is  fent  by  way  of  Cairo,  Suez,  and  the  Red  fea,  it  being 
a  very  rich  corn  country.  The  Chriftians  have  no  church,  but  are  obliged 
to  go  to  the  convent  on  the  other  fide. 
Archemou-  About  three  miles  north  of  Meloui,  is  the  village  of  Archemounain  : 
nam.  There  is  a  large  country  here  which  alfo  goes  by  that  name.  This  village 
is  on  the  ruins  of  an  old  city,  which  I  fuppofe  to  be  the  antient  Hermo- 
polis"; or,  which  is  all  the  fame,  as  Pliny  calls  it,  the  city  of  Mercury.  It 
feem'd  to  have  been  of  an  irregular  form,  extending  above  a  mile  from 
eaft  to  weft,  and  more  than  half  a  mile  from  north  to  fouth,  and  is  near 
two  miles  from  the  river.  Little  appears  but  heaps  of  rubbifh  all  over 
the  fite  of  the  old  city,  except  a  grand  portico  of  an  antient  temple  re- 
prefented  in  the  twenty-fourth  plate-  at  C.  and  D.  confifting  of  twelve 
pillars,  fix  in  a  row,  nine,  feet  diameter ;  there  are  hieroglyphics  on  every 
part  both  of  the  pillars  and  of  the  ftones  laid  on  them.  I  faw  on  the 
pillars  fome  remains  of  paint,  and  the  ceiling  is  adorn' d  with  ftars  ;  on 
feveral  parts  there  are  figures  of  pyramids,  as  with  a  door  to  them,  which 
Kircher  interprets  to  be  (o  dyotAo$  Saipw)  the  good  principle  ;  a  perfon 
fitting,  and  one  offering  to  him,  is  cut  in  feveral  parts  of  the  frieze.  It 
appears  that  the  pillars  have  been  built  up  for  about  half  way  between,  as 
in  many  Egyptian  temples.  About  two  hundred  paces  to  the  fouth,  I  faw 
fome  large  ftones,  and  a  piece  of  a  pillar  ftanding  upright,  which  may  be 
the  remains  of  fome  building  belonging  to  this  temple.  I  faw  alfo  fome 
pieces  of  granite  pillars  among  the  heaps  of  ruins.  I  was  inform'd  that 
about  a  league  to  the  fouth  weft  of  thefe  ruins,  there  is  a  place  call'd 
Hoar,  which  from  the  name  one  may  conjecture  to  be  about  the  fite  of 
the  antient  caftle  of  Hermopolis  y,  on  the  fouth  fide  of  the  great  canal, 
where  they  took  cuftom  of  every  thing  that  came  out  of  the  Thebaid  ; 
it  being  the  firft  place  without  that  country;  as  the  Theban  '  caftle  on 
the  other  fide  was  the  firft  place  on  the  Thebaid ;  which  muft  have  been 
atTaroutofcherif ;  the  provinces  of  Hermopolis  and  Antinoopolis  being  the 
laft  before  the  entrance  into  the  Thebaid.  I  was  alfo  inform'd  that  when 
the  waters  of  the  Nile  begin  to  be  low,  there  is  no  current  in  this  great 
canal  call'd  Baher-Jofeph,  but  that  there  is  always  fome  ftanding  water 
in  it.  They  told  me  alfo  that  Mount  Bibian  is  about  two  hours  weft  of 
this  canal ;  that  it  was  a  high  hill,  I  fuppofe  between  the  mountains,  and 
that  there  are  fome  ruins  there.  It  was  in  my  return  I  faw  thefe  an- 
tiquities. Going  up,  we  flopped  only  about  an  hour  near  Meloui,  whilft 
the  mafter  of  the  boat  went  to  fee  one  of  his  families  who  lived  here. 

We  fail'd  on,  and  obferved  a  great  number  of  grottos  cut  in  the  moun- 
tains all  the  way  from  Souadi  to  Manfalouth.  Near  oppofite  to  this  laft 
place  where  the  hills  retire  to  the  eaft,  I  faw  a  building  on  them  cover'd 
with  a  dome,  which  I  thought  might  have  been  a  convent ;  but  they  told 
me  it  was  fome  old  ruin'd  building.    I  obferved  that  there  are  feveral 

*  En-*  'E^uoffoAmjcNopof    ^E^OTrflAif,  dm  dvrfAuv  by  fchceni  confined  of  fixty  (ladia  each,  from  this 

Ta  sralafA?  peoo'yH^  'EfftaVc-Aif  fj^yahyj.   Ka)  «Vo  place  up  to  Siene,  and  from  Memphis  to  this 

(Wpuiv  ii  s-olaftS  ztaeyxelptvxi  QvhuxM.  Ptol.  ibid,  place,  they  were  fchceni  of  one  hundred  and 

1  See  w.  *E£wr/kiv 'EfpoiroAiW  tpuA«jc>;,  Tthwii*  twenty  ftadia,  as  lower  riiey  were  only  of  thirty 

ti  twv  ek  t^j  Q^auSQ'  K«T«tpefof*ivwi'-  tv7t03-tv  «££ii  ftadia.  See  Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  804. 
TOT-i$tjgo*7a5Wi«v  £oiW.  Strabo  1.  xvii.  p.  813.         1  e7t«  «  QiGtuw  QuKam.  Strabo  xvii.  p.  813. 
Here  it  is  to  be  obferved  that  the  Greek  meafure 

narrow 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  7  5 

narrow  openings  into  the  mountains.  About  this  place  I  faw  great  ruins 
of  walls  built  with  unburnt  brick,  from  the  river  up  the  fide  of  the 
hills  ;  they  told  me  they  were  made  by  the  Kings  of  Egypt,  when  the 
Turks  invaded  this  country,  tho'  1  mould  rather  have  thought  they  had 
been  built  by  the  Arabs,  when  they  might  have  had  wars  with  one  ano- 
ther. A  little  further  is  a  convent  cut  out  of  the  rock  ;  the  church  of  it  is 
ferved  by  a  prieft  that  comes  from  Manfalouth.  We  paffed  by  that  town, 
which  I  fuppofe  to  be  Lycopolis,  the  chief  city  of  a  province  of  that 
name,  in  which  they  paid  an  extraordinary  devotion  to  the  wolf.  Seme 
authors  mention  a  fabulous  foundation  for  it,  becaufe  when  the  Ethiopians 
invaded  Egypt,  they  fay  they  were  drove  back  to  Elphantine,  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Ethiopia  by  wolves :  Other  reafons  alfo  are  given  for  this  extrava- 
gant worfliip  *. 

Manfalouth  is  a  mile  from  the  river,  and  above  a  mile  round ;  it  is  to-  Manfalouth. 
lerably  well  built ;  a  Cafhif  refides  here  who  governs  this  province  :  It  is  LycoPol,s- 
alfo  a  bifhop's  fee,  and  there  are  about  two  hundred  Chriftians  in  the  place ; 
but  their  church  is  at  fome  diftance  at  Narach,  where  the  common  people 
have  a  notion  the  holy  family  ftay'd  till  the  death  of  Herod.  The  Nile 
here  is  fo  deep,  and  there  are  fo  few  fhallows,  that  we  fail'd  all  night, 
and  on  the  fifteenth  we  paffed  by  Sciout,  about  two  miles  from  the  river,  Sciour. 
which  I  went  to  in  my  return  ;  it  is  finely  fituated  on  a  height  that  may  AntxoPollS- 
have  been  made  by  art,  divided  into  three  parts,  being  higheft  at  each 
end;  it  is  in  the  middle  of  a  very  fine  country.  There  is  a  large  lake  by 
the  town,  which  is  fill'd  from  the  Nile  by  a  canal,  over  which  there  is  a 
bridge  of  three  high  Gothic  arches.  There  are  alfo  feveral  pleafant  gar- 
dens without  the  town,  which  ftretches  about  two  miles  from  the  fouth 
eaft  to  the  north  weft,  and  is  well  built  ;  and  it  may  be  reckon'd  among 
the  beft  cities  in  Egypt :  A  Cafhif  refides  here,  who  governs  this  province 
of  Sciout;  there  are  about  five  hundred  Chriftians  in  the  town,  and  a 
bifhop  ;  but  their  church  is  a  league  off,  the  hills  to  the  eaft  being  about 
that  diftance,  and  are  cut  into  a  great  number  of  grottos.  This  I  fup- 
pofe to  have  been  Anteopolis,  capital  of  the  province  of  that  name,  fo 
call'd  from  Antaeus,  who  was  overcome  by  Hercules b;  and  Diodorus  fays 
that  Ofiris  committed  to  his  care  the  countries  of  Ethiopia  and  Lybia. 
This  place  anfwers  alfo  to  the  account  of  Ptolemy",  who  places  it  at  ibme 
diftance  from  the  river. 

We  faw  Aboutig  near  a  mile  to  the  weft  of  the  river;  it  is  a  pretty  Atnu-ig;. 
large  town,  and  a  bifhop's  fee  ;  I  fuppofe  it  to  be  Hypfele  of  the  antients.  H>'pfdc' 
Near  the  town  we  faw  the  encampment  of  an  Arabian  Sheik,  who  com- 
mands this  country.  Thefe  governors  often  go  round  their  territories,  en- 
camping near  towns  and  villages,  in  many  of  which  they  have  houfes. 
This  method  they  take  in  order  to  collect  the  tributes  that  are  paid  to 
them,  which  are  moftly  in  cattle.  Above  Aboutig  is  the  port  that  be- 
longs to  the  city,  call'd  Nackele,  and  almoft  oppofite  to  it  is  the  country 
of  Seling,  confifting  of  feveral  villages.  To  the  north  eaft  of  the  moft 
fouthern  village,  are  two  fmall  hills,  where  I  imagined  there  might  have 
been  fome  antient  town ;  and  from  the  name  one  would  conclude  it  was 
Selinon,  fuppofing  the  diftance  of  fixteen  miles  in  the  itinerary  from  Pa- 

"  See  t.  and  Diodorus  i.  p,  79.  c  Aftr^xMuc  'Avr«i»  pttlya®:  Pto!.  iv.  c.  5. 

b  Diodorus  i.  p.  18. 

nopolis 

3 


41 


76  OBSERVATIONS 

nopolis  or  Akmim,  to  be  a  miftake  for  fix  and  thirty.  In  the  evening  we 
Gam-Kiebre  came  to  Gaua-Kiebre,  which  may  be  the  Paffalon  of  Ptolemy,  the  laft 
Paffilon.     place  m  the  province  of  AntEeopolis,  tho'  the  diftances  do  not  well  agree. 

There  is  here  a  very  beautiful  portico  of  a  temple  of  eighteen  pillars,  in 
three  rows,  as  reprefented  in  the  twenty-fifth  plate;  they  have  a  particular 
capital,  and  the  columns  are  enrich'd  with  hieroglyphics  beyond  any  that 
I  have  feen  in  Egypt,  The  manner  alfo  in  which  a  wall  is  built  up  againft 
the  pillars  in  the  front,  as  for  fo  many  door  places,  is  altogether  lingular. 
There  is  an  imperfect  Greek  infcription  in  the  frieze,  the  middle  ftone  of 
the  infcription  being  fallen  down,  and  lies  on  the  ground.  This  infcrip- 
tion may  be  feen  at  the  end  of  the  book,  with  other  infcriptions  I  found 
in  Egypt ;  it  appears  to  have  been  a  very  magnificent  building,  not  only 
from  the  portico, ,  but  from  the  vaft  ftones  that  are  feen  about  it ;  one  I 
found  to  be  twenty-one  feet  long,  eight  broad,  and  four  deep,  another 
thirty  feet  long,  and  five  broad.  Behind  the  portico,  at  fome  diftance  is 
a  ftone  fhapcd  like  the  top  of  an  obelifk,  as  feen  in  the  fame  plate.  There 
is  a  niche  on  one  fide  of  it,  which  might  be  for  a  ftatue,  and  hierogly- 
phics are  cut  on  it.  On  the  fixteenth  we  came  to  the  territories  of  the 
Prince  of  Akmim,  which  begin  at  Raigny.  Near  this  place  is  the  grotto 
of  the  famous  ferpent  call'd  Heredy,  mention'd  by  travellers.  On  the  fe- 
venteenth  we  arrived  at  Akmim. 


CHAP.  II. 

Of  Akmim,  and  the  places  near  it. 

AKMIM  is  about  a  mile  to  the  eaft  of  the  river,  on  a  little  height 
that  feem'd  to  have  been  raifed  by  art,  a  canal  of  water  from 
the  river  going  round  moft  part  of  the  town  when  the  Nile  is  high. 
Panopolis.  I  fuppofe  it  to  have  been  Panopolis,  famous  of  old  for  workers  in  ftone, 
and  for  the  linen  manufactures and  at  prefent  they  make  coarfe  cot- 
tons here.  It  appears  plainly  from  Diodorus,  that  this  is  the  city  which 
is  call'd  Chemmis  by  Herodotus  *,  who  mentions  that  Pan  accompanying 
Ofiris,  on  that  account  was  deified,  and  particularly  worfhipped  in  this 
city.  Herodotus  fays  Chemmis  was  near  Neapolis,  as  it  was  the  next  city 
to  it  of  any  confequence  on  the  eaft  fide,  and  fpeaks  of  a  temple  and 
games  inftituted  to  Perfeus  here,  whofe  anceftors  they  pretend  went  from 
this  city  into  Greece.  It  is  now  the  place  of  refidence  of  the  Prince  of 
Akmim,  who  has  the  title  of  Emir  or  Prince,  and  is  as  a  Sheik  of  the 
country.  The  family  came  two  or  three  generations  pad  from  Barbary, 
and  managed  fo  as  to  become  governors  of  a  large  territory,  by  renting 
the  land  of  the  Grand  Signor,  according  to  cuftom.    It  is  like  the  other 

d  Uatiwv  EToAlf,  AiKKfJ/wv,  Jtj  h&x^ym  Kuloixlet  w&-  "En      Xiffl*is  S^Alf  piyahK             ©r&xitS  iyyvs 

Koud.  Strabo  1.  XVli.  p.  813.  NE>jf  sroAi©'"  iv  tou'tji  TJI  btsAi  tr)  Tlt^ai®-  A«k«fjf 

*  Tou'iw  ya^  TSf  iy%o>ej-vi;  a  pavov  uyxh^alc/,  Igov  itj^ymav.  Herodotus  ii.  c.  at. 

sfEiroiiiKEvcu  xaT«  zsm  I'ffdv,  «aa«  «,  kto'ajv  tVw'vupov  Herodotus  fays  that  this  city  was  in  theNomos 

xora  ih  e^t^tta,   K«AifjwEniv  0V0   ™  iy%uy.wv  of  Thebes,  which  probably  in  his  time  extended 

X-fj.fii»  t!  Xei^aw,  lA&tgpwiuepw,*      n«ior  sss'aiv.  To  far,  and  the  provinces  of  Coptos  and  Pano- 

Diodorus  i.  p.  16.  polis  might  be  afterwards  taken  out  of  it. 

Arab 


ON  EGYPT. 


Arab  towns,  except  that  the  ftreets  are  wider  ;  the  quoins  of  their  houfes 
are  built  of  burnt  brick,  but  all  the  reft  of  bricks  that  are  only  dried  iii 
the  fun.  I  went  to  the  convent  of  the  Francifcan  raiilionaries,  being  re- 
commended to  them  by  their  prefect.  I  dined  and  fupped  with  them  in 
their  hall,  and  the  firft  day  many  of  the  Catholic  Coptis  came  to  fee  me, 
there  being  about  two  thoufand  Chriftians  in  and  about  the  town,  two 
hundred  of  which  they  told  me  were  converts  to  the  church  of  Rome. 
They  have  a  large  room  in  the  convent,  where  as  many  of  their  people 
as  pleafe  may  come  every  night,  and  one  of  the  fathers  is  obliged  to  at- 
tend to  difcourfe  with  them,  and  to  anfwer  any  queftions  they  afk. 

I  went  with  my  friend  Malim  Soliman  to  wait  on  the  Prince,  with  a 
letter  from  Ofman  Bey,  and  a  prefent  of  feveral  vafes  of  glafs;    he  was 
dreiTed  in  the  Turkish  habit,  not  after  the  Arab  fafhion,  and  received  me 
with  great  civility.    This  Prince  is  much  beloved  by  his  fubjedts,  efpe- 
cially  the  Chriftians,  who  are  on  a  very  good  footing  in  this  place,  as  they 
were  likewife  in  the  time  of  his  father,  which  is  thought  to  be  owing  to 
the  mother  of  this  Prince,  who  had  been  a  Chriftian  flave,  and  it  is  con- 
jectured that  in  her  heart  fhe  always  retain'd  her  religion,  for  as  long  as 
fhe  lived,  fhe  fent  a  prefent  to  the  convent  every  week ;  and  this  Prince 
was  thought  to  be  much  inclined  that  way,  having,  as  they  fay,  ftiewn 
fome  marks  of  devotion  when  he  has  come  to  fee  their  chapel.    The  mif- 
fionaries  came  here  at  firft  under  the  character  of  phyficians,  and  were 
received  by  the  father,  as  well  as  by  this  Prince,  into  their  palaces:  The 
latter  fome  years  ago  was  accufed  to  the  government  above,  as  if  he  was 
become  a  Chriftian ;  five  hundred  foldiers  were  fent  to  bring  him  to  Cairo, 
but  efcaping  to  the  mountains,  he  took  with  him  the  three  mifllonaries 
that  were  there;  and  having  friends  at  Cairo,  after  fome  time  the  foldiers 
were  recall'd,  and  he  return'd  to  his  capital.    This  Prince  died  fuddenly 
about  a  year  after,  greatly  lamented  by  his  people.    I  went  to  fee  the 
fmall  remains  of  antiquity  that  are  about  the  town,  and  found  to  the 
north  fome  ruins  of  an  antient  temple,  of  which  there  is  little  to  be  feen, 
except  four  very  large  ftones  that  lie  near  a  hollow  ground,  out  of  which 
it  is  probable  they  dug  the  other  ftones  of  the  temple:  One  of  them,  more 
remarkable  than  the  reft,  is  about  eighteen  feet  long  out  of  the  ground, 
one  end  of  it  being  under  a  modern  building  ;  it  is  eight  feet  wide,  and 
three  deep,  and  has  a  Greek  infeription  on  it,  in  which  the  name  of  Ti- 
berius Claudius  is  mentiond,  and  fome  remains,  as  I  take  it,  of  the  name 
of  the  city.     On  another  fide  of  the  ftone  is  a  very  extraordinary  fculp- 
ture  which  has  been  painted,  and  from  which  I  concluded  that  it  was  a 
temple  dedicated  to  the  fun.     Within  fome  ornaments,  there  are  four 
circles;  in  the  inner  circle  is  a  figure  probably  reprefenting  the  fun,  the 
fpaces  between  the  two  next  are  divided  into  twelve  parts;  in  the  firft, 
twelve  birds  are  cut  in  like  feals;  in  the  next  twelve  figures  defaced,  that 
I  conjectured  might  be  the  figns  of  the  Zodiack.    The  outer  one,  not  di- 
vided, has  in  it  figures  of  men,  if  I  miftake  not,  in  the  fame  number.  In 
.each  angle  between  the  outer  circle  and  the  fquare  ornaments  that  are 
round  it,  is  a  figure  which  may  poftibly  reprefent  the  four  feafons:  A  wing 
extends  along  one  fide  of  it,  from  a  fort  of  globe  mark'd  out  in  lines, 
which  probably  had  another  wing  extending  in  the  fame  manner,  it  may 
be  over  fuch  another  fculpture.    Thefe  ftones,  and  fome  others  of  a  tem- 
Vol.  I.  X  pie 


78  OBSERVATIONS 

pie  near,  are  fo  large  that  they  cannot  move  them  ;  nor  do  they  ufe  ftones 
in  building,  but  they  break  in  pieces  thefe  fine  morfels  of  antiquity,  a- 
dorn'd  with  hieroglyphics,  and  make  lime  of  them.  About  a  hundred 
yards  higher  to  the  north  eaft,  is  another  great  ruin,  the  ftones  of  which 
are  ftill  larger:  The  entrance  of  this  temple  feems  to  have  been  to  the 
fouth,  as  that  of  the  other  was  probably  to  the  north;  moft  of  it  is  a 
white  {tone  mix'd  with  pebbles,  and  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics ;  one  of 
them  has  ftars  cut  on  it,  which  without  doubt  cover'd  part  of  the  build- 
ing. Thefe  ftones  lie  all  in  a  hole  fome  feet  deep,  which  has  been  dug  to 
get  out  the  fmall  ftones,  and  to  break  the  large  ones  to  pieces.  One  of 
thefe  temples  might  have  been  dedicated  to  Pan,  and  the  other  to  the  Sun, 
and  poflibly  there  might  have  been  a  third  dedicated  to  Perfeus.  Several 
red  granite  pillars  ftand  in  a  fquare  of  the  town,  where  there  might  be 
fome  other  antient  building;  and  in  a  mofque  I  faw  many  pillars  of  granite, 
and  other  marble.  In  the  portico  of  another  mofque,  there  is  a  piece  of 
grey  granite  five  feet  long,  and  near  two  broad,  on  which  there  was  a 
Greek  infcription,  that  has  been  almoft  entirely  erafed  ;  it  was  in  fmall 
letters  not  an  inch  long,  and  probably  fome  law  or  decree  was  cut  on 
this  ftone. 

Convents  to      I  fpent  a  day  in  going  to  fee  fome  places  without  the  town,  and 
the  eaft..     went  three  miles  eaft  to  the  uninhabited  convent  of  the  martyrs,  on  a  low 
hill  near  the  foot  of  the  mountain ;  from  thence  we  went  into  a  very  nar- 
row valley,  between  the  high  fteep  mountains,  and  in  two  miles  came  to 
the  convent  call'd  Dermadoud,  which  is  one  of  the  moft  dilmal  retire- 
ments I  ever  faw  ;  it  confifts  of  nothing  but  grottos  cut  in  the  rock, 
except  the  fmall  church,  which  is  of  brick,  that  has  feveral  Copti  inferip- 
tions  on  the  plaifter  within :  Some  of  the  little  cells  in  the  rock  have  a 
wall  with  a  door-place  before  them ;  one  very  large  one  feems  to  have 
been  the  refectory.    From  the  convent  there  is  a  very  narrow  dangerous 
way  cut  out  of  the  perpendicular  rock,  to  a  fmall  building  half  way  up 
the  mountain,  which  might  be  fome  hermit's  cell.    Beyond  this  monaftery 
there  is  a  very  fteep  afcent  up  the  valley;  and  the  way  for  half  a  mile  be- 
fore we  came  to  the  convent  is  fo  obftrudted  with  the  great  ftones  that 
have  fallen  down  from  the  hills,  that  the  way  is  impracticable  for  horfes. 
This  might  be  a  retreat  in  times  of  perfecution,  and  afterwards  be  fre- 
quented on  account  of  the  fine  water  that  is  here,  moft  of  which  diftils 
in  drops  from  the  rocks,  there  being  a  fort  of  well  they  call  Bir-Elaham, 
which  is  the  only  water  I  met  with  in  Egypt,  that  does  not  certainly 
come  from  the  Nile.  Near  it  are  feveral  grottos  and  little  cottages,  probably 
built  by  the  Chriftians,  who  fometimes  come  and  fpend  a  day  here,  and 
have  fervice  in  the  church.    I  obferved  the  rocks  of  freeftone  towards  the 
bottom,  have  every  half  foot  a  layer  of  black  flint  about  an  inch  thick, 
which  has  a  white  coat  on  each  fide;  and  the  rock  in  fome  places  hav- 
ing fallen  away,  it  appears  like  an  artificial  ceiling.    Coming  out  of  this 
valley,  we  went  on  to  the  weft  to  a  village  call'd  El-Gourney,  over 
which  the  hills  are  cut  into  fepulchral  grottos  in  feveral  ftories  about 
three  quarters  of  the  way  up  ;  fome  of  thefe  are  fingle  rooms,  others 
have  two  or  three  one  within  another;  they  have  moftly  three  niches  in 
them  about  three  feet  deep,  and  three  feet  from  the  ground,  being  cut 
up  to  the  ceiling,  in  which  without  doubt  they  depofited  their  dead.  I 

obferved 
3 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  79 

obferved  a  defccnt  down  from  fome  of  them  that  has  been  fill'd  up,  and 
faw  many  fwathes  and  bones  lying  about;  feveral  of  the  rooms  were 
painted,  but  without  figures,  except  one,  in  which  I  faw  an  Ibis  repre- 
sented in  the  ceiling,  and  fome  very  odd  figures  on  the  fides,  particularly 
a  man  tied  to  the  body  of  a  four-footed  beaft. 

I  went  alfo  to  the  weft  fide  of  the  Nile,  to  two  antient  magnificent  Convent  to 
convents.  We  paffed  through  Souadgy,  where  a  Copti  invited  us  to  take  the  wdl 
coffee,  and  a  collation  of  dates,  treacle,  and  bread,  and  would  not  be  re- 
fufed  ;  fo  laying  a  carpet  before  his  door,  we  fat  down  and  accepted  of 
his  favour,  and  at  our  departure  he  invited  us  to  return  and  take  a  lodg- 
ing at  his  houfe,  or  to  dine  with  him  the  next  day.  Going  out  of  town, 
we  faw  a  young  woman  unveil'd,  with  brafs  ornaments  about  her  neck, 
fitting  by  the  way-fide.  We  paffed  by  feveral  little  lakes  of  water,  made 
by  the  overflowings  of  the  Nile,  and  I  never  faw  fo  great  a  quantity  of 
wild  fowl  together  as  there  was  on  them.  We  went  on,  and  came  to  the 
convent  call'd  Embefhnuda,  on  the  edge  of  the  fandy  defert :  There  are  fe- 
veral remains  of  antient  pillars,  and  ftones  of  red  granite,  in  and  about 
both  the  convents ;  fo  that  I  conjecture  the  city  call'd  Crocodilopolis  was 
here,  mention'd  in  this  part  by  Ptolemy  as  diftant  from  the  river ' ;  and 
they  have  a  tradition  that  there  was  a  large  city  here  that  extended  from 
one  monaftery  to  another.  This  convent  is  built  of  hewn  ftone,  and  there 
are  great  marks  of  magnificence  in  both  the  churches;  and  without  doubt  it 
was  on  the  firft  eftablifhment  of  Chriftianity  in  Egypt,  that  thefe  convents 
were  built,  as  the  work  is  executed  according  to  the  Greek  architecture, 
tho'  after  it  had  begun  to  decline:  And  as  I  faw  a  fculpture  of  an  eagle 
with  a  crofs  before  it,  and  another  eagle  on  a  crown,  it  made  me  con- 
jecture that  this  great  convent  was  founded  by  the  Emprefs  Helena.  The 
churches  of  both  the  convents  are  built  on  the  fame  model,  with  pillars 
of  the  Corinthian  order,  not  executed  in  the  beft  manner ;  feveral  of  them 
have  crofles  on  them  inftead  of  the  rofe  in  the  capital.  It  appears  that 
there  was  a  building  adjoining  to  the  fouth  fide  of  each  of  thefe  churches, 
which  feems  to  have  confifted  of  two  ftories  of  cells  for  the  monks,  there 
being  in  the  great  convent  two  ftories  of  oblong  fquare  windows.  The 
church  is  paved  with  red  granite,  and  on  many  of  the  ftones  are  fome 
remains  of  hieroglyphics  ;  a  plan  of  the  church  of  the  large  convent, 
with  the  fuppofed  apartments  to  the  fouth  of  it,  may  be  feen  in  the  laft 
book,  with  the  difcourfe  of  the  Copti  church.  The  gates  of  this  convent 
feem  to  have  been  of  the  Doric  order,  and  probably  fome  other  parts,  for 
I  faw  in  feveral  places  the  frieze  of  that  order. 

Above  a  mile  to  the  north  is  the  other  convent  call'd  Der-Embabfhai ; 
there  is  a  foffee  round  the  convent  about  half  a  mile  in  compafs ;  the 
quoins  and  doors  of  the  building  are  of  ftone,  moft  of  the  reft  is  of  brick, 
the  gate  to  the  north  is  adorn'd  with  Corinthian  pilafters,  and  an  enta- 
blature over,  with  a  relief  of  St.  George  on  each  fide.  The  architecture 
of  this  convent  is  rather  richer  than  that  of  the  other  ;  the  greater  part  of 
this  church  is  fallen  down,  and  they  now  only  make  ufe  of  the  eaft  end 
which  is  enclofed.  Near  the  weft  end  of  this  church  there  is  a  large  vafe, 
faid  to  have  been  ufed  for  a  font,  and  is  reprefented  in  the  plate,  with  the 

e  EiT«  |U£fo'}'H(i^  woAtf  x^oxoJeiAav.    Ptol.  iv.  c.  5. 

plan 


OBSERVATIONS 


plan  of  the  other  convent  ;  it  is  near  the  weft  end  of  the  church,  with- 
out the  prefent  enclofure,  which  takes  up  only  the  fite  of  the  church,  and 
the  fuppofed  apartments  to  the  fouth. 

I  went  firft  to  this  convent,  and  as  they  have  no  place  fit  to  carry  a 
ftranger  into,  they  prepared  a  collation  for  us  in  the  weft  end  of  the 
church  ;  which  is  what  they  ufually  do,  when  any  one  comes  they  would 
fhew  a  particular  honour  to.  We  walked  two  miles  on  the  fand,  to  the 
mountains  on  the  weft,  going  by  a  large  burial  place  of  the  Chriftians,  to 
which  they  are  brought  from  all  the  neighbouring  parts  to  be  buried. 
We  after  paffed  by  a  fmall  hillock,  on  which  there  were  fome  fmall  ruins 
of  a  building  that  feem'd  to  have  been  round,  and  it  is  faid  was  a  church. 
We  faw  the  track  of  wolves  in  the  fand,  and  they  pretended  to  fhew  the 
trace  of  ferpents,  which  they  fay  are  here  fourteen  or  fifteen  feet  long. 
There  are  feveral  holes  in  the  fides  of  the  rocky  mountains,  which  do  not 
extend  far  in ;  I  went  up  to  fome  of  them,  and  could  fee  that  they  were 
places  of  fhelter  for  eagles  and  other  large  birds.  I  obferved  towards  the 
bottom  of  the  mountains,  the  fame  regularity  as  on  the  other  fide,  a  layer 
of  yellow  flint  about  an  inch  thick,  at  the  diftance  of  every  eight  inches. 
We  return'd  to  the  convent,  and  being  a  fine  evening,  we  took  the  re- 
frefhment  that  was  prepared  for  us,  fitting  on  matts  abroad  at  the  door  of 
a  chapel ;  they  ftuck  the  wax  lights  of  the  church  into  their  cakes,  in- 
ftead  of  candlefticks,  and  we  went  to  repofe  in  the  chapel  itfelf.  The 
next  morning  we  view'd  the  great  convent,  where  the  priefts  entertain'd  us 
with  coffee,  and  offer'd  to  kill  a  fheep  if  we  would  ftay  and  dine;  but 
we  went  on  thro'  clouds  of  duft  to  Akmim,  for  the  wind  being  high,  it 
raifed  the  fands  to  fuch  a  degree  that  we  could  not  fee  before  us  any  fur- 
ther than  in  a  very  thick  fog ;  and  the  duft  was  fo  exceedingly  trouble- 
fome  to  the  eyes,  that  it  would  have  been  a  pleafure  to  have  had  it  fuc- 
ceeded  by  the  moft  ftormy  weather,  attended  with  rain.  Thefe  two  con- 
vents have  their  lands  of  the  Prince  at  an  eafy  price  ;  but  they  are  obliged 
to  entertain  the  Arabs,  and  even  the  Bey  of  Girge  when  he  paffes  by, 
which  is  a  great  burthen.  About  this  place  and  Akmim  I  faw  many  of 
the  dome  trees,  the  leaf  of  which  refembles  that  which  is  call'd  by  the  bo- 
tanifts  the  palm  of  Brafil,  with  the  folding  or  fan  leaf.  On  enquiry  I 
find  this  tree  as  it  grows  here  is  not  any  where  defcribed,  but  may  be  feen 
engraved  in  the  laft  book,  with  fome  other  plants  I  collected  in  Egypt. 

I  happen'd  to  be  at  Akmim  at  Chriftmas,  and  fat  up  almoft  all  the 
night  of  Chriftmas  eve  to  fee  the  Copti  ceremonies  in  the  Roman  church  j 
for  tho'  they  become  converts  to  the  church  of'  Rome,  they  retain  their 
own  ceremonies,  only  making  fome  few  alterations  in  part  of  their 
prayers,  where  heretics  are  mention'd  with  honour;  and  this  is  the  me- 
thod of  the  Greek,  Armenian,  and  all  the  other  eaftern  churches.  As  foon 
as  the  fervice  was  ended,  which  is  not  before  day,  I  had  a  meffage  from 
Malim  Soliman,  that  I  muft  come  to  his  houfe  and  pafs  the  whole  day 
with  him,  he  having  invited  me  before  to  dine  with  him  on  Chriftmas  day. 
Accordingly  I  went  to  his  houfe,  and  coffee  being  ferved,  we  all  found  it 
neceffary  to  repofe  on  account  of  the  fatigue  of  the  night  before.  At 
noon  a  great  dinner  was  ferved  in  an  open  fummer-houfe,  of  twenty-five 
difhes,  eight  or  nine  in  a  row,  feveral  of  them  being  repeated  three  or 
four  times  over ;  they  confifted  rnoftly  of  rich  foups,  and  a  fort  of  ragoos, 

roaft 


ON  EGYPT. 


roaft  lamb,  pigeons  and  fowls  fluffed  with  lice,  and  1  was  the  only  per- 
fon  at  the  table  that  was  ferved  with  a  plate,  or  had  a  knife  and  fork ;  his 
fons-in-law,  and  fome  of  his  relations  waited  at  table ;  for  fons  and  infe- 
rior relations  in  this  country  will  at  no  time  fit  down  before  their  parents, 
unlefs  they  are  defired  three  or  four  times ;  a  great  fubordination  being 
preferved  throughout  all  the  eaft,  with  regard  to  different  degrees  and 
ftations.  Firft  a  very  rich  dram  was  ferved,  and  at  dinner  wine  was  gi- 
ven round,  that  1  had  prefented  him  with,  which  was  a  very  extraordi- 
nary thing.  After  we  had  drank  coffee,  we  walk'd  out  of  the  town  to 
his  garden,  where  we  had  coffee  again,  and  returning  to  his  houfe,  after 
flipper  he  afk'd  me  if  I  would  lie  there  or  at  the  convent?  In  this  man- 
ner the  day  was  paffed  in  a  Turkifh  vifit ;  for  fuch  it  really  was,  every 
thing  being  far  beyond  whatever  the  Arabs  pretend  to,  and  after  the 
Turkifh  manner.  I  went  a  fecond  time  to  fee  the  Prince,  who  faid  he 
wonder'd  he  had  feen  me  but  once ;  he  defired  me  to  make  his  houfe  my 
own,  and  command  what  I  pleafed,  and  piomifed  to  fend  a  man  to  re- 
move the  earth  from  an  infcription  1  defired  to  copy. 

I  agreed  here  for  a  boat  and  four  men  to  go  up  with  me  to  the  Cata- 
ract, and  to  bring  me  back  to  this  place,  paying  them  about  the  value  of 
half  a  crown  a  day,  together  with  a  certain  quantity  of  corn  and  lentils 
by  the  month,  and  to  find  them  in  coffee ;  and  in  fhort  as  I  found  after- 
wards, they  expefted  I  fhould  let  them  have  a  fhare  of  every  thing  I  had ; 
for  it  is  the  nature  of  the  Arabs  to  defire  whatever  they  fee.  When  we 
had  made  the  agreement,  the  Coptis  who  were  prefent  faid  a  prayer  ac- 
cording to  their  cuftom.  Malim  Soliman  and  fome  other  friends  came 
with  me  to  the  boat,  and  his  fervants  brought  me  a  prefent  of  a  large 
baflcet  of  bread,  fome  fine  cakes,  and  a  live  fheep :  At  parting  the  Coptis 
faid  a  prayer,  and  wifhed  a  fafe  return,  that  we  might  fay  another  prayer 
together. 


CHAP.  III. 

From  Akmim  to  Mensheeh,  Girge,  Furshout, 
Dendyra,  Ken  a,  Kept,  Cous,  and  Thebes. 

ON  the  twenty-eighth  of  December  about  noon  I  left  Akmim,  to  go 
on  towards  the  Cataradls.  In  fome  time  we  came  to  a  ruin'd  con- 
vent of  red  unburnt  brick,  call'd  Der-El-Hadid ;  and  oppofite  to  Men- 
{heeh  to  another,  which  has  four  priefts  in  it,  and  is  call'd  Der-Embabfag, 
-to  which  the  Chriftians  of  Menfheeh  come  to  church ;  it  is  in  a  very  ru- 
inous condition,  but  about  it  there  are  pieces  of  entablatures  and  capitals, 
which  are  proofs  that  there  had  been  fome  other  fort  of  buildings  there. 
After  we  had  view'd  the  church,  the  prieft  told  us  there  was  nothing  more 
to  fee;  but  as  foon  as  he  had  a  piece  of  money  put  into  his  hands,  he 
fhew'd  us  the  way  up  fome  flairs,  and  brought  us  to  a  draw  bridge  that 
led  to  a  fmall  chapel,  to  which  they  retire  in  difficult  times,  or  when  the 
Arabs  break  in  upon  them. 


Vol.  I. 


y 


We 


1 


8a  OBSERVATIONS 

Menflieeh;  We  croffed  over  to  Menfheeh  on  the  weft,  a  poor  ill-built  town,  about 
mais,  "  a  mile  in  compafs  ;  but  there  are  marks  here  of  a  great  city  to  the  fouth 
of  the  town,  which  part  is  call'd  Embabfag,  as  they  fay  from  St.  Sag,  a 
bifhop  of  this  place;  and  it  is  at  prefent  a  bifhop's  fee.  I  went  round  part 
of  the  foffee  of  the  town,  which  is  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  long  to 
the  fouth,  and  half  a  mile  broad  from  eaft  to  weft ;  probably  the  antient 
town  extended  alfo  as  far  north  as  the  prefent.  All  along  by  the  river  are 
conliderable  ruins  of  a  quay,  built  with  feveral  fhort  piers  to  receive  the 
boats  into  docks,  where  they  might  be  fhelter'd  from  the  weather ;  and 
in  one  part  it  is  built  in  a  femicircle,  with  flights  of  fteps  in  different 
parts.  I  faw  feveral  pedeftals,  cornices,  and  pieces  of  granite  among  the 
ruins.  This  feems  to  have  been  Ptolemais,  mention'd  by  Strabo  as  the 
greateft  city  in  the  Thebaid,  and  had  a  government  eftablifh'd  after  the 
Greek  manner ;  fo  that  it  is  probable  that  the  town  was  rebuilt  under  the 
Ptolemies,  and  had  its  name  from  them.  Some  think  it  might  be  built 
on  the  fpot  of  the  antient  city,  this  being  mention'd  as  the  capital  of 
this  province  Thinites  ;  Ptolemy  calls  it  Ptolemais  of  Hermius ;  fo  that 
it  is  probable  Mercury  was  worfhippcd  here  in  a  particular  manner.  With- 
in the  compafs  of  the  old  town  is  a  fmall  lake  that  is  fill'd  with  water 
when  the  Nile  rifes,  and  when  the  water  evaporates,  it  leaves  a  cake  of 
fait  on  the  top,  as  in  many  other  parts  of  Egypt.  The  Prince  of  Akmim 
having  writ  to  an  officer  of  the  town  to  give  me  fome  letters  for  Affouan, 
I  waited  on  him  with  a  prefent  of  rice  and  foap,  which  are  acceptable 
here,  and  he  gave  me  letters  to  his  friends  at  Affouan,  and  entertain'd  me 
very  civilly  at  his  houfe.  I  went  afterwards  to  fee  the  mafter  of  the  veffel 
that  brought  us  from  Cairo,  who  had  another  family  here,  and  he  had 
invited  me  to  his  houfe  in  the  evening,  it  being  ftill  the  faft  of  Rame- 
fan ;  he  entertain'd  me  likewife  with  coffee,  and  a  hot  fharab  as  they 
call'd  it,  made  with  fugar  and  ginger;  inftead  of  which,  people  of  bet- 
ter condition  ufe  cinamon,  and  drink  it  like  tea,  it  being  an  extraordi- 
nary entertainment.  We  fat  round  a  pan  of  coals,  and  three  Mahometans 
fung  Arab  fongs,  beating  time  with  their  hands,  and  playing  on  a  tam- 
bour. 

On  the  twenty-  ninth  we  purfued  our  voyage,  and  flopped  at  a  proper 
place  on  the  eaft  to  take  in  a  ftore  of  wood  :  An  Arab  came  down  from 
the  mountain  on  horfeback  after  my  fervant,  and  approach'd  the  boat  ; 
but  he  came  in  to  us  and  avoided  being  ftripped,  as  probably  he  would 
have  been,  if  the  Arab  had  come  to  him.  After  fome  time  we  had  to 
the  eaft  the  high  rocky  hills  almoft  perpendicular,  in  which  there  are 
Girge.  many  curious  grottos.  We  came  to  the  poor  little  convent  of  Girge,  on 
the  eaft  fide,  under  the  rocks.  To  this  place  the  Coptis  of  Girge  come  to 
church,  not  being  allow'd  a  church  in  the  city.  We  went  about  two  miles 
further  to  Girge,  on  the  weft,  which  is  the  capital  of  Said  or  upper  Egypt ; 
it  is  not  above  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  river,  and  may  be  near  two 
miles  in  compafs,  is  pretty  well  built,  and  if  I  miftake  not,  moftly  of 
burnt  brick.  The  Sangiack,  or  governor  of  upper  Egypt,  who  is  one 
of  the  Beys,  refides  here,  and  continues  in  this  office  three  or  four  years, 
according  to  the  pleafure  of  the  divan  at  Cairo,  or  as  he  is  agreeable  to 
the  people  here.  1  went  to  the  convent  of  the  Francifcan  miffionaries, 
who  pafs  for  phyficians,  but  privately  have  a  church,  and  as  they  told  me, 

about 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  83 

about  one  hundred  and  fifty  converts ;  but  they  are  often  in  great  danger, 
for  the  foldiers  are  very  infolent,  all  the  moft  unruly  janizaries  being  fent 
to  this  place  from  Cairo ;  fo  that  the  miffionaries  have  been  forced  to  fly 
two  or  three  times,  and  their  houfe  has  been  plunder'd.  I  went  with  one 
of  the  fathers  to  wait  on  the  Caimacam  of  the  town,  who  is  chief  go- 
vernor in  the  abfence  of  the  Bey.  This  father  was  detain'd  here  to  vifit 
this  great  man,  who  was  in  a  dropfy.  I  fhew'd  him  the  letter  I  had  from 
Ofman  Bey  to  the  Sangiack  of  Girge,  made  him  a  prefent  of  two  boxes 
of  French  prunellas,  and  he  gave  me  a  letter  to  Aflouan,  near  the  Cata- 
ract. I  then  went  to  the  Aga  of  the  janizaries,  who  was  fitting  according 
to  their  cuftom,  under  the  gateway  to  his  houfe;  he  received  us  with  much 
civility,  having  been  a  patient  of  the  father,  and  gave  me  four  letters  to 
the  people  above,  and  1  fent  him  the  fame  prefent  I  had  carried  to  the 
Caimacam.  We  afterwards  went  to  a  Turk,  who  I  was  told  had  fome 
fuperior  command  over  the  janizaries  of  the  caftle  of  Aflouan  ;  I  gave 
him  a  letter  from  the  Prince  of  Akmim,  and  to  the  prefent  i  made  the 
others,  I  added  a  large  bafket  of  rice :  He  did  not  receive  us  very  polite- 
ly, but  faid  he  wonder'd  for  what  end  the  Franks  went  up  to  the  Cata- 
racts, and  afle'd  if  I  had  a  watch  to  fell ;  which  is  a  way  they  have  of  in- 
timating that  they  want  fuch  a  prefent :  However,  as  foon  as  he  faw  what 
I  had  brought  for  him,  he  order'd  me  a  letter,  that  he  faid  would  pro- 
tect me  as  far  as  the  three  caftles ■  that  is,  as  far  as  the  Grand  Signor's 
dominions  extend. 

I  went  about  three  miles  to  the  weft,  to  a  village  call'd  El-Berbi  (The  Ei-Berbi,  old 
temple.)  It  is  built  on  part  of  a  raifed  uneven  ground,  which  feems  to  have  Abydas- 
been  the  fite  of  an  antient  city :  Alking  them  where  the  temple  was,  from 
which  it  had  its  name,  they  fhew'd  me  a  hollow  ground  from  which  pro- 
bably all  the  ftones  had  been  carried  away  to  Girge.  This  I  fuppofe  to 
be  the  antient  Abydus ;  which  is  the  more  probable,  as  it  is  mention'd  f  as 
a  city  diftant  from  the  river,  on  the  weft  fide.  It  was  once  the  fecond 
city  in  the  Thebaid,  where  there  was  a  famous  palace  of  Memnon  E;  but 
in  Strabo's  time  it  was  only  a  village.  He  fays  fome  were  of  opinion  that 
Ifmandes  was  the  fame  as  Memnon,  and  confequently  that  the  Labyrinth 
was  the  work  of  Memnon.  He  mentions  alfo  a  fountain  here,  to  which 
there  was  an  extraordinary  defcent  by  fteps,  and  likewife  a  canal  from  the 
great  river,  which  feems  to  be  that  which  comes  from  Badjoura  to  the 
fouth.  He  fays  alfo  that  there  was  a  wood  about  the  canal  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Acanthos,  which  was  facred  to  Apollo  ;  and  poffibly  the  wood  about 
Furfhout  may  be  fome  remains  of  it  k 

From  this  place  they  went  to  the  upper  or  great  Oafis  *,  feven  days  jour-'  oafi, 
ney,  probably  about  a  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  Abydus,  by  a  way 
almoft  inacceflible  by  reafon  of  the  fands  ;  but  the  place  itfeif  was  well 

f  E?t«  pt?oy«@r  o^ot'uf   «Vo  JvVtwj  1,aCuiT@'.  midft  of  the  deferts  'AvaVwf,  or  rather  'Auarao 

Ptol.  iv.  c.  5.  *  K«T«ft)J©'  yug  its  ious  o'jjtnVfcri  u^£^,°MVMS 

s  H   AGuo'lgH,  iv  jj  to  Me^vovhbv  ficvriXeiM  Sow-  lo^ucji  x,  dvujotii  y^'  KathSfi  i\  Tat  Toiowrag  o'lxnVttr 

^»?wf  xaiTSfxeuair^sm,  oAaAi&ov  TJJ   (w'tij   xolsecrxsujl  'AvaV«c  01  'AtJ/uVlioi.  Strabo  ii.  p.  1 30. 

tjmo  tov  Aa£u£^9-ov  Epa^s*.  Strabo  xvii.  p.  813.         Stephanus  takes  notice  of  this  difference  of  the 

h  Abydus  Memnonis  regia  et  Ofiris  templo  in-  names,  which  confirms  the  opinion  that  the  read- 

clyta,  vii.  M.  ccccc.  pad",  in  Libyam  a  flumine  ing  of  Strabo  ought  to  be  corrected  to  'AvaVejf. 

remota.  Plin.  Nat.  Hijl.  1.  v.  ct  9.  'Auo're  aSxn  'AwArV  t<mW»  &  «,  "Oumi  nanSm. 

For  what  relates  to  Oafis,  fee  Herodotus  iii.  Stephanus  de  urbibus. 

c.  26.    Strabo  calls  thefe  places  that  are  in  the 

water'd, 


84  OBSERVATIONS 

water'd,  and  abounded  in  vines:  This  doubtlefs  is  what  is  call'd  Elouah, 
in  fome  modern  accounts  of  Egypt,  that  mention  it  as  a  place  where  they 
have  plenty  of  water  and  palm-trees.  There  the  caravans  of  Nubia  firft 
come  into  Egypt,  after  thirteen  days  journey;  and  the  country  is  govern'd 
by  a  Cafhif.  It  is  faid  the  army  of  Cambyfes  came  to  this  place  when  he 
fent  them  from  Thebes,  on  the  expedition  to  plunder  the  temple  of  Jupi- 
ter Ammon,  which  was  three  degrees  further  north ;  in  which  journey  it 
is  faid  the  whole  army  was  buried  in  the  fands.  To  this  place  the  Chri- 
ftians  were  often  banifh'd  in  times  of  perfecution  ;  and  there  is  an  epiftle 
of  St.  Athanafius  directed  to  them  here.  The  fecond  Oafis  was  to  the 
weft  of  the  lake  Maris,  by  fome  call'd  little  Oafis,  about  one  hundred 
miles  from  the  other:  The  lake  mention'd  as  fix  hours  weft  of  the  lake 
Maris  muft  be  too  near  to  be  that  place.  The  third  Oalis  was  call'd  alfo 
the  little  Oafis ;  with  regard  to  which,  fome  diftinguiih  both  the  others  by 
the  title  of  great.  This  is  mention'd  as  at  a  great  diftance  from  the  others, 
and  was  near  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon.  This  laft  and  the  middle 
Oafis  muft  be  meant  by  Pliny,  who  fpeaks  of  two  as  being  bounded  by 
the  provinces  of  Memphis,  Heracleopolis,  and  Arfinoe. 

On  the  thirty-firft  I  fet  forward  in  the  boat  from  Girge,  in  company 
with  an  Aleppine  of  the  Roman  Greek  church,  who  lived  in  the  convent 
of  Furfhout,  and  I  fuppofe  was  a  lay  brother.  We  pafTed  by  the  large 
ifle  of  Domes,  call'd  fo  from  that  tree ;  a  great  number  of  which  grow  on 
it.  I  firft  faw  in  this  voyage  the  large  floats  of  earthen  ware ;  they  are 
about  thirty  feet  wide,  and  fixty  long,  being  a  frame  of  palm-boughs  tied 
together  about  four  feet  deep,  on  which  they  put  a  layer  of  large  jars  with 
the  mouths  uppermoft ;  on  thefe  they  make  another  floor,  and  then  put 
on  another  layer  of  jars,  and  fo  a  third,  which  laft  are  fo  dilpofed  as  to 
trim  the  float,  and  leave  room  for  the  men  to  go  between.  The  float 
lies  acrofs  the  river,  one  end  being  lower  down  than  the  other  ;  towards 
the  lower  end,  on  each  fide  they  have  four  long  poles,  with  which  they 
row  and  direcT:  the  boat,  as  well  as  forward  the  motion  down:  It  is  faid 
crocodiles  have  fometimes  taken  men  from  thefe  floats;  a  view  of  one  of 
them  is  reprefented  in  the  eighth  plate.  A  few  miles  to  the  fouth  of 
Girge  is  Bardis,  where  a  great  Sheik  refides,  who  has  but  a  fmall  territory 
here  on  the  eaft  and  weft,  but  has  a  large  tract  of  land  under  him  up 
higher  on  the  eaft,  extending  from  Kena  near  as  high  as  Efne,  and  re- 
fides  fometimes  at  Cous.  We  flopped  at  a  place  about  three  miles  from 
Furlhout  on  the  third  of  January,  the  wind  not  having  favour'd  us.  We 
mounted  on  affes  without  bridles,  and  only  a  piece  of  coarfe  cloth  tied  on 
the  back  for  a  faddle  ;  but  we  were  foon  met  by  the  prefident  of  the  con- 
vent, who  had  brought  horfes  for  us  on  notice  of  our  arrival,  and  we 
Furflwut.  came  to  Furfhout,  which  is  a  poor,  ill-built,  ruinous  town,  that  may  be 
about  a  mile  in  compafs.  The  great  Sheik  refides  here,  who  is  governor 
of  almoft  all  the  country  on  the  weft,  near  as  far  as  Aflbuan  ;  tho'  in  the 
upper  parts  they  make  themfelves  almoft  independent  of  him,  and  it  is 
with  great  difficulty  that  he  collects  his  rents.  The  country  round  is  very 
pleafant,  moft  of  the  roads  leading  to  the  town  being  planted  with  acacia 
trees.  The  Francifcan  miffionaries  have  a  convent  here  under  the  name  of 
phyficians,  and  have  a  large  faloon  where  they  receive  their  company,  which 
in  private  ferves  them  for  a  chapel.    I  waited  on  the  fecretary  of  the  Sheik, 

2  and 


ON  EGYPT. 

and  prefented  him  with  five  or  fix  pounds  of  coffee,  and  he  fent  a  pre- 
fent  of  a  fheep  alive  to  the  convent  to  entertain  me  with,  and  after  in- 
troduced me  to  the  Sheik  himfelf,  who  was  fitting  in  the  corner  of  his 
room  by  a  pan  of  coals  :  He  rofe  both  when  I  came  and  when  I  left  him ; 
his  drefs  was  after  the  Arab  manner.  I  gave  him  three  letters,  and  the 
fervant  brought  in  the  prefent  I  made  him  of  two  boxxs  of  prunellas,  two 
of  fome  other  fweetmeats,  and  feveral  vafes  of  glafs.  He  afk'd  me  where 
I  intended  to  go?  I  told  him  to  the  Catarad.  He  faid  a  boat  of  Franks 
went  up  lately,  and  that  the  people  faid  they  came  to  find  the  way  into 
the  country,  in  order  to  return  afterwards  and  take  it.  He  then  a(ked 
me  what  I  wanted  to  fee?  I  told  him  the  ruin'd  cities.  He  faid  we  had 
not  fuch  ruins  in  England;  and  asked  whether  if  they  fhould  go  into  our 
country,  we  would  permit  them  to  fee  every  thing.  All  thefe  queftions, 
tho'  a  little  fhocking,  he  ask'd  me  with  a  good-natured  fmile,  and  told 
me  he  would  give  me  letters,  and  a  man  to  go  with  me;  fo  that  I  might  be 
aftured  I  mould  travel  fecurely.  I  went  to  fee  the  Sheik's  garden,  planted 
in  the  middle  with  vines,  the  other  parts  being  like  an  orchard  full  of 
the  acacia,  palm,  oranges,  lemons,  and  other  trees.  The  interpreter 
of  the  Arab  language  I  had  taken  with  me,  who  was  an  Armenian,  fal- 
ling ill,  I  was  obliged  to  fend  for  another  to  Girge,  where  they  engaged 
a  merchant  of  Aleppo,  who  came  up  to  fell  goods,  to  go  with  me  ;  and 
'  on  the  eighth  of  January  in  the  morning,  the  fecretary  came  and  had  his 
carpet  laid  in  the  convent,  and  fent  to  his  houfe  for  coffee  and  other  re- 
frefhments,  and  we  took  collation  together,  and  about  ten  I  dined  with 
the  fathers ;  the  fecretary  eating  the  dinner  he  had  order'd  for  himfelf  in 
another  part  of  the  convent,  fending  us  a  part  of  it,  not  being  accuftom'd 
to  fit  at  a  table ;  and  we  all  fet  out  together  and  went  through  Badjoura 
to  the  boat.  The  fecretary  fent  me  a  prefent  of  a  large  fheep  alive,  bread, 
and  fugar  canes,  and  about  two  in  the  afternoon  we  fet  fail,  and  pafied  by 
Hou  to  the  weft,  a  long  town  on  a  height  that  feems  to  be  made  by  art, 
and  extending  a  confiderable  way  to  the  weft ;  this  I  conjedure  might  be 
little  Diofpolis  of  Ptolemy  :  We  lay  all  night  near  Reifere.  On  the  ninth 
about  midnight  we  arrived  at  Dendera,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  river: 
There  is  a  great  quantity  of  wood  all  round  it.  I  went  out  to  the  skirts 
of  the  town;  but  we  did  not  care  to  go  much  about,  becaufe  it  was  the 
firft  day  of  the  great  Turkilh  feaft  Biram,  after  the  conclufion  of  their 
month  of  falling.  Some  of  our  men  went  to  the  mofque  in  a  habit  of 
ceremony  ufed  in  thefe  parts,  a  gown  of  white  cotton  fowed  up  before, 
fo  that  it  look'd  like  a  fhirt;  and  poflibly  from  this  the  ufe  of  the  furplice 
might  take  its  rife,  as  a  veft  of  ceremony  ufed  when  they  went  any  where 
in  high  drefs. 

I  had  letters  to  two  Mahometans  here,  to  whom  I  carried  fome  fmall 
prefents,  and  they  recommended  me  to  the  governor,  who  fent  his  brother 
with  me  about  a  league  to  the  fouth  to  Amara,  where  are  the  ruins  of  the 
antient  Tentyra,  about  a  mile  from  the  river,  and  from  the  mountains  to 
the  fouth ;  from  which  the  name  of  the  prefent  town  feems  to  be  derived. 
The  people  of  Tentyra  were  famous  for  their  enmity  to  the  crocodile,  fo 
as  to  endeavour  to  deftroy  that  animal  by  all  means,  infomuch  that  they 
often  engaged  in  wars  with  the  worlhippers  of  the  crocodile,  and  particu- 
larly with  the  people  of  Ombos.    Some  imagined,  tho'  it  is  faid  falfely, 

Vol.  I.  Z  that 


OBSERVATIONS 

that  they  had  a  greater  natural  power  over  thefe  animals  than  other  people, 
having  encounter'd  them  with  wonderful  fuccefs  at  the  publick  games  at 
Rome.    In  this  city  they  were  great  worfhippers  of  Ifis  and  Venus ;  to 
each  of  which  Deities  they  had  a  temple.    From  the  many  heaps  of  ruins 
that  are  feen,  the  city  appears  to  have  been  large;  they  extend  about  a 
mile  from  eaft  to  weft,  and  half  a  mile  from  north  to  fouth.    The  town 
has  been  much  frequented  fince  the  time  of  its  antient  fplendor,  for  the 
buildings  are  almoft  fill'd  up  with  afhes  and  rubbifh ;  they  feem  to  have 
lived  much  in  and  about  the  temples,  and  to  have  built  their  little  houfes 
of  unburnt  brick  near  them ;  particularly  there  are  feveral  on  the  top  of  the 
great  temple,  probably  erected  there  for  coolnefs  by  night  during  the  fummer 
feafon;  but  as  this  temple  is  but  two  hundred  feet  long,  and  a  hundred 
and  forty-five  broad,  any  one  may  judge  with  what  reafon  it  has  been  faid, 
that  the  temple  is  fo  large  that  a  city  was  built  on  it.    The  chief  remains 
of  buildings  are  very  near  to  one  another,  as  reprefented  in  the  twenty-fixth 
plate.    What  are  above  the  line  mark'd  in  the  drawing,  are  placed  as 
they  (land  in  relation  to  one  another,  except  that  the  gate  X.  is  further  to 
the  eaft.    There  are  two  gates  and  four  temples  which  feem  to  have  rela- 
tion to  one  another ;  the  fmall  temple  A.  being  without  the  gate  B.  might 
not  belong  to  the  others,  and  is  too  fmall  for  the  temple  of  Venus :  In  it 
is  the  fecond  capital  defcribed  in  the  plate  of  that  architecture.    This  gate 
B.  is  like  the  grand  kind  of  gate  at  Thebes,  which  may  be  feen  in  the 
drawings  of  the  temple  of  Carrack  :  A  fort  of  double  frieze  is  mark'd  out 
in  lines  within  it,  in  which  one  may  lee  fomething  of  the  metopes  and 
triglyphs  of  the  doric  order,  as  reprefented  in  the  plate  of  cornices  and 
entablatures.    The  temple  C.  which  is  lituated  on  the  right  hand,  as  the 
plan  of  the  front  of  it  is  mark'd,  has  over  the  capitals  two  fquare  ftones ; 
on  the  lower  ftone  a  figure  is  reprefented  as  on  the  laft  pillar  in  the  fecond 
plate  of  columns.    This  temple  is  fo  near  the  great  one,  that  I  fhould 
imagine  it  was  a  building  that  belong'd  to  it,  as  well  as  the  temple  D. 
Over  the  door  of  the  latter  a  hawk  is  cut,  with  the  ufual  cap  or  orna- 
ment on  his  head :  In  one  room  there  are  two  friezes,  and  two  ftories  of 
hieroglyphics  range  round  it,  and  a  cornice  on  the  outfide,  with  hawks 
and  wings,  and  a  frieze,  under  which  two  Deities  are  cut.    At  the  end  of 
the  middle  room  is  a  niche,  Ofiris  is  cut  in  it  in  releif,  with  a  high  cap, 
as  reprefented  in  the  fmall  brafs  ftatues,  but  much  defaced.    Poflibly  this 
temple  might  be  the  habitation  of  a  facred  hawk.    The  grand  temple  it- 
felf  E.  is  intire,  except  that  fome  apartments  which  feem  to  have  been  at 
top  are  deftroy'd,  and  fix  or  feven  of  the  rooms  below  are  intirely  fill'd  up. 
There  are  ten  flights  of  flairs  to  the  top,  at  the  fixth  is  the  room  F. 
and  near  the  top  are  the  rooms  G.  from  which  there  are  fix  fteps  to  the 
top  of  the  temple.    The  particular  large  capital  of  the  pillars,  which  is  re- 
prefented in  the  plate  of  capitals,  has  over  it  a  fquare  ftone,  with  a  com- 
partment of  reliefs  on  each  fide,  in  the  beft  tafte  and  workmanfhip  of  any 
I  have  feen  in  Fgypt,  and  are  exquifitely  fine,  infomuch  that  I  conclude 
they  muft  have  been  executed  by  one  of  the  beft  Greek  fculptors.  At 
the  ends  of  the  grand  room  are  four  ftories  of  hieroglyphics,  in  feven 
compartments,  each  having  two  or  three  figures  of  men  in  it,  fome  of 
which  are  defaced.    There  are  alfo  four  ftories  of  hieroglyphics  on  the 
outfide;  and  probably  there  were  five  both  within  and  without,  before  the 

ground 


Back  of 
Foldout 
Not  Imaged 


ON   EGYPT.  87 

ground  was  raifed.  Coloffal  figures  are  cut  on  the  outfide  of  the  fouth 
end,  five  of  them  together,  and  two  more  beautiful  than  the  others  at  each 
corner.  Round  the  top  of  this  building  there  are  feveral  fpouts,  with  an  or- 
nament over  them  of  the  head  and  fhoulders  of  the  fphynx:  This,  no  doubt, 
was  the  temple  of  Ifis,  as  may  be  concluded  from  the  capitals  which  are 
fhaped  like  the  head  of  that  Deity.  The  gate  X.  of  the  fame  kind  as  the 
other,  ftands,  with  regard  to  the  temple,  as  it  is  reprefented ;  on  the  ftones 
that  cover  it  are  cut  five  of  the  birds  Ibis.  A  third  gate  in  the  fame  ftyle 
is  fo  far  to  the  eaft  fouth  eaft  of  the  temple,  that  it  is  not  reprefented  with 
the  other  plans :  It  is  all  over  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics,  as  well  as  the 
others,  and  poffibly  might  lead  to  the  temple  of  Venus,  which  we  may 
fuppofe  has  been  deftroy'd ;  and  coming  to  it  from  the  river,  the  temple 
of  lfis  might  be  faid  to  be  behind  it as  defcribed  by  Strabo. 

Having  view'd  all  thefe  fine  remains  of  antiquity  with  the  greateft  fa- 
tisfa&ion,  I  return' d  to  the  town ;  and  at  parting,  my  friends  fent  me  a  pre- 
fent  of  a  lamb ;  and  the  governor's  brother  came  to  the  boat  for  his  prefent, 
which  was  a  basket  of  rice,  fome  coffee,  and  foap :  As  there  is  plenty  of 
wood  here,  this  place  fupplies  moft  part  of  Egypt  with  charcoal.  We 
purfued  our  voyage  with  a  favourable  wind,  and  came  up  with  Kena,  a  Kena,  Cccne 
fmall  town  on  a  raifed  ground  about  a  mile  from  the  river,  which  I  fup-  orNeaPolls- 
pofe  to  be  the  antient  Casne  or  Neapolis,  mention'd  both  by  Herodotus  and 
Ptolemy  \  After  Tentyra,  Strabo  mentions  Typhonia  ',  which  I  do  not  Typhonia. 
find  in  any  other  author:  It  is  probable  it  had  its  name  from  fome  ceremo- 
nies perform'd  to  fhew  their  deteftation  of  Typhon ;  but  whether  it  were 
here  or  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  river,  there  are  no  grounds  to  determine, 
only  that  he  mentions  the  canal  that  goes  to  Coptos  immediately  after  it, 
which  is  near  this  place;  and  I  took  notice  of  the  canal  which  comes  in 
and  makes  the  ifle  of  Kena.  This  city  at  prefent  is  only  remarkable  for 
making  the  belt  black  earthen  ware  in  Egypt,  which  is  very  light  and  much 
efteem'd:  They  could  never  be  prevail'd  on  to  make  the  vafes  with  broad 
bottoms,  to  ftand  without  danger  of  falling ;  fo  that  the  people  are  obliged 
to  have  wooden  frames  to  fet  them  on.  A  little  higher  on  the  weft,  we 
paffed  by  Etouerat,  where  thofe  large  jars  are  made  which  are  carried 
down  on  floats,  on  which  we  faw  the  people  placing  them  for  the  voyage. 
We  went  on  and  came  up  with  Kept,  a  village  at  fome  diftance  from  the  Kept; 
river;  it  is  the  antient  Coptos,  faid  to  be  fo  call'd  in  the  Greek,  becaufe  Coptos. 
Ifis  was  here  when  fhe  heard  of  the  death  of  Ofiris,  and  for  grief  cut  off 
one  of  the  locks  of  her  hair.  This  city  was  inhabited  both  by  Egyptians 
and  Arabians.  The  Nile  below  the  city  running  to  the  weft,  this  was  the 
firft  convenient  place  for  carrying  on  the  trade  by  the  Red  fea,  the  river 
being  nearer  to  it  here  than  at  other  places  below ;  and  the  difficult  navi- 
gation of  the  Red  fea  to  the  north  caufed  the  trade  for  the  merchandices 
of  India  and  Arabia  to  take  this  channel.  The  antients  fpeak  of  the  Red 
fea  as  fix  or  feven  days  journey  diftant,  tho'  the  people  at  prefent  fay  it  is 
only  four  days  journey:  The  former  feem  to  be  nearer  the  truth,  tho' 
Pliny  feems  to  make  the  diftance  much  too  great  from  Coptos  to  Beronice, 
in  faying  it  is  two  hundred  fifty-eight  miles.    The  Itinerary  alfo  makes  it 

'  ''OttioJsu  Je  tS  vew  tiic 'A^oJiT^/ltri^o's  e?<»  i'ejov.        1  eTtas  Tutpafvaat  x«AKjwev«,  ji,  v  «f  Ko7r7a\  Jiwfu|' 

Strabo  xvii.  p.  815.  stc'aiv  koiv^v  'Aiyvnlluv  n  ^  'A&Gw.  Strabo  ibid. 

k  K«*^  sreAif.  Ptol.  iv.  c.  5. 

near 


OBSERVATIONS 


near  the  fame  diftance,  which  by  fuppofing  a  miftake  in  every  diftance,  I 
have  reduced  to  about  one  hundred.  As  Strabo  makes  Berenice  the 
neareft  port  on  the  Red  fea,  and  the  Itinerary  gives  an  account  of  the  road 
between  thefe  two  places  ;  it  muft  be  fuppofed  that  Ptolemy  is  miftaken 
in  his  latitudes,  in  making  Beronice  fo  much  further  fouth,  and  Myos  fo 
much  more  to  the  north.  Strabo  ">  alfo,  who  was  in  thefe  parts,  was  in- 
form'd  that  Coptos  was  near  to  Beronice;  in  which  it  is  the  more  unlikely 
he  fhould  be  miftaken,  becaufe  he  fays  the  port  of  Myos  was  then  the 
more  frequented  ;  Beronice  being  a  bad  port,  as  Coilir  is  at  prefent,  which 
is  the  port  that  was  ufed  in  the  middle  ages,  and  probably  is  Beronice  ; 
there  being  another  bad  port  north  of  it  call'd  old  Coflir,  which  from  the 
fituation,  one  may  conjecture  to  be  Myos.  Pliny  "  mentions  Juliopolis  as 
two  miles  from  Alexandria,  probably  the  port  on  the  lake  where  this  trade 
was  carried  on,  and  fays  that  from  Juliopolis  to  Coptos,  the  voyage  of 
three  hundred  and  three  miles  was  perform'd  in  twelve  days,  when  the 
northerly  winds  blew.  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  0  firft  made  a  good  road 
from  Coptos  to  Beronice,  and  fixed  inns  at  proper  diftances :  Wells  alfo 
were  dug,  and  cifterns  made  to  preferve  the  little  rain  water  that  fell ;  fo 
that  the  ftations  where  they  flopped  had  the  general  name  of  Hydrea,  or 
watering  places.  The  journey  before  was  ufually  perform'd  by  night,  car- 
rying water  on  their  camels,  and  directing  their  courfe  by  the  ftars.  The 
trade  continued  on  this  way  in  the  middle  ages  to  Coflir,  till  it  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  depredations  of  the  Arabs :  They  have  notwithftanding 
fometimes  fent  corn  this  way,  but  very  little  of  the  eaftern  goods  have 
lately  come  by  this  road.  In  the  early  times  of  Chriftianity,  this  city  be- 
came famous  for  the  great  refort  of  Chriftians  to  it  in  times  of  perfecution ; 
and  it  is  laid  that  they  retired  to  the  grottos  of  the  neighbouring  moun- 
tains, tho'  I  could  not  be  inform'd  that  there  were  any  near.  This  was 
the  firft  rife  of  the  name  of  Coptis,  which  it  is  faid  the  Mahometans  gave 
in  derifion  to  the  Chriftians  in  Egypt.  This  town  having  revolted  againft 
Dioclefian,  probably  on  account  of  his  perfecutions,  he  caufed  it  to  be 
utterly  deftroy'd.  1  went  with  letters  I  had  to  two  Mahometans  from  the 
Prince  of  Akmim.  Going  through  the  ruins  of  the  old  town,  half  a  mile 
to  the  left  to  the  village  call'd  Kalalikeman,  they  fhew'd  me  all  the  ruins 
of  this  great  city,  the  ground  of  which  is  much  raifed.  About  the  mid- 
dle of  the  city  I  faw  fome  fquare  pillars,  and  the  remains  of  a  fine  en- 
tablature reprefented  in  the  plan  of  entablatures,  all  of  red  granite.  At 
a  village  to  the  north  are  the  remains  of  a  fmall  temple  much  deftroy'd ; 
a  plan  of  which  is  at  A.  in  the  twenty-feventh  plate.  To  the  eaft  of  the 
high  ground  of  the  old  city  is  a  large  bafin,  as  of  a  lake  or  pond,  about 
three  hundred  paces  long,  and  two  hundred  broad  ;  to  the  north  of  it 
there  is  a  deeper  hole,  in  which  there  was  foul  water,  but  I  could  not 
perceive  that  it  was  fait.  Both  thefe  were  doubtlefs  rcfervoirs  of  water  for 
the  ufe  of  the  city,  which  was  convey 'd  by  the  canal,  and  poffibly  they 
might  bring  their  veflels  into  the  large  bafin.  The  canal  runs  to  the  fouth 
of  thefe,  and  to  the  fouth  and  weft  of  the  old  town  :  Over  it  are  the  re- 
mains of  two  bridges  •  one  at  the  fouth  weft  corner  of  the  town  is  almoft 
intire,  and  has  five  piers ;  it  is  not  built  with  arches,  but  large  ftones  are 

™  See  Strabo  ibid.  0  See  Strabo  ibid. 

n  Lib.  vi.  c.  23. 

S  laid 


xxvn.>.  8e 


je       zc      jt        40      j-g       Je       7c      fio        00  saJ 

:  i\  1      1      1      I      I  ==p=t 

C^Plan  and  IZ/iny/ito/nTempie  at-  Cons  .Plans  ^Temple  WBridge  <aS  Kepht, 
and ofa.Temy\e  and  Gate  of  Thebes  f.vtof  Carnack,  W<z«  Upright         Gale . 


ON   EGYPT.  89 

laid  from  one  pier  to  another.  The  piers  are  built  in  fuch  manner  as  if 
floodgates  had  been  fix'd  between  them  to  keep  in  the  water  when  the 
Nile  abated,  as  may  be  feen  at  B.  The  other  bridge  is  at  the  fouth  eaft 
corner:  Near  it  I  favv  feveral  Sarcophagus's,  on  the  lids  of  which  is  a 
mezzo-releivo  of  a  man  like  a  mummy:  There  are  many  of  them  likewife 
about  a  rifing  ground  on  the  canal  a  mile  further,  where  probably  there 
was  a  church  or  convent;  for  I  imagined  they  were  Chriftian  tombs,  the 
antient  Pagan  Egyptians  not  depoiiting  their  dead  fo  near  their  cities.  The 
people  find  here  a  great  number  of  medals,  and  fmall  ftatues  of  earthen 
ware,  tho'  but  few  intire,  and  alfo  fome  pieces  of  rock,  chryftal,  and 
fometimes  precious  ftones,  and  particularly  the  root  or  refufe  of  emerald 
in  great  abundance;  it  is  of  a  pale  green,  and  they  have  an  emerald  at 
Cairo  which  they  call  the  emerald  or  Said,  which  is  not  very  tranfparent, 
nor  of  a  bright  green.  Strabo  fays  there  were  mines  of  emeralds  and  other 
precious  ftones  here,  in  which  the  Arabs  work'd.  Ptolemy  alfo  fpeaks  of 
the  mountain  of  emeralds  in  thefe  parts,  and  the  mines  of  emerald  are 
mention'd  in  the  map  of  the  patriarch,  and  they  fay  the  Arabs  have  dug 
for  them  ;  but  as  they  belong  to  the  Grand  Signor,  they  are  very  well  fa- 
tisfied  that  they  mould  not  be  known,  becaufe  he  would  have  the  profit, 
and  the  inhabitants  might  be  obliged  to  work  in  the  mines  for  a  very  fmall 
conlideration. 

We  went  on  and  paffed  by  Nequade  to  the  weft,  in  which  town  there  Ncquade. 
are  many  Chriftians,  and  it  is  a  bifhop's  fee,  the  Diocefe  extending  to  the 
confines  of  Egypt;  for  above  this  place  there  are  very  few  Chriftians  in  any 
parts,  except  at  Efne  and  the  convent  beyond  it.    I  was  inform'd  that 
there  were  two  or  three  monafteries  near  this  town. 

We  came  to  the  port  of  Cous,  and  rid  two  miles  through  a  flat  coun-  Cous. 
try  full  of  dome- trees,  to  the  miferable  town  built  of  unburnt  brick,  which 
was  the  antient  little  Apollinopolis,  call'd  by  Antonine  a  village  ;  it  is  on 
an  artificial  height,  but  there  are  no  remains  except  of  one  fmall  temple ; 
a  plan  and  an  upright  of  one  fide  is  in  the  twenty-feventh  plate  at  C.  and 
there  is  an  infcription  on  it,  to  be  feen  with  the  other  Greek  infcriptions 
in  Egypt  put  up  by  Cleopatra  and  Ptolemy  in  honour  of  the  great  Deity, 
and  the  other  Deities  worfhipped  in  that  temple. 

As  I  was  viewing  the  temple,  one  of  the  Sheik's  officers,  dreffed  as  a 
Turk,  came  and  asked  me  with  great  civility  to  drink  coffee,  but  it  be- 
ing late  I  declined  it.  Thefe  great  Sheiks  have  often  many  Turks  in  their 
fervice,  who  having  been  on  the  vanquifh'd  fide,  have  been  obliged  to  fly 
from  Cairo  in  time  of  public  infurredlions,  which  frequently  happen.  I  was 
told  this  Sheik  had  feveral  of  thefe  people  with  him,  and  I  concluded  this 
perfon  was  one  of  them.  This  is  the  only  antiquity  to  be  feen  at  Cous.  I 
went  to  the  Chriftian  fecretary  of  the  great  Sheik  to  be  introduced  by  him, 
and  made  him  a  fmall  prefent.  We  fat  down  on  a  mat  in  the  open  court, 
where  the  horfes  were  tied,  and  had  very  indifferent  fare  ferved  to  us;  a 
fort  of  ill-tafted  feed  mix'd  with  oyl,  onions,  bread,  and  water  ;  and 
finifhing  with  coffee,  he  went  with  me  to  the  great  Sheik,  who  is  the  fame 
that  commonly  refides  at  Bardis.  He  is  a  young  man  of  a  Mulatto  com- 
plexion, and  a  large  black  eye.:  Being  laid  down  to  repofe,  he  was  in  a 
fmall  room  on  his  bed  on  the  fopha,  having  a  blue  fhirt  over  fome  other 
garments,  one  of  his  officers  fitting  by  him.    I  went  up  on  the  fopha,  and 

Vol.  I.  A  a  deliver d 


OBSERVATIONS 


delivered  my  letters  from  the  Prince  of  Akmim,  and  an  officer  of  the 
janizaries  at  Girge,  and  then  my  prefent,  as  ufual,  was  laid  before  him  ; 
a  bag  of  rice,  tobacco  in  the  leaf,  Joppa  foap,  and  a  pair  of  fuch  red  fhoes 
as  they  wear.  I  told  him  I  delired  a  letter  to  fee  the  antiquities  of 
Carnack  and  Luxerein,  which  he  order'd  to  be  prepared,  and  defired  us 
to  go  and  drink  coffee  with  his  fecretary.  I  went  to  my  boat,  the  fecre- 
tary  fending  me  a  prefent  of  a  fheep.  I  left  my  interpreter  to  bring  the 
letters,  who  came  the  next  morning  and  faid  he  was  at  the  river  in  the 
evening,  but  could  not  find  the  boat ;  for  the  men  hearing  fome  people  at 
the  water  fide,  had  put  off  into  the  middle  of  the  river.  The  Sheik  ad- 
vifed  me  by  him  to  fee  Carnack  and  Luxerein  now,  and  not  in  my  return 
as  I  propofed,  for  that  he  was  going  to  encamp  there,  and  I  fhould  fee 
every  thing  with  greater  fafety.  There  is  one  little  church  in  this  town, 
and  towards  the  mountains  there  is  a  mean  convent  call'd  Aboukter,  that 
has  only  three  priefts  in  it.  On  the  twelfth  we  went  on  with  a  man  the 
Sheik  had  fent  to  go  with  me,  and  flopping  oppofite  to  Zenieh,  where 
the  Sheik  of  Carnack  lives,  the  man  went  to  the  camp  of  the  great  Sheik, 
who  fent  us  two  men  to  guard  the  boat  by  night. 


CHAP.  III. 
Of  Thebes. 

T  WENT  on  the  thirteenth  to  the  Sheik  at  Zenieh,  with  a  letter  I  had 
I  from  his  fuperior,  and  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout;  and  making  him  a  pre- 
fent, he  was  very  civil,  and  took  care  to  make  a  return  by  a  prefent 
of  a  fheep.  I  went  to  Carnack,  which  is  part  of  the  antient  Thebes, 
where  there  are  the  ruins  of  a  moft  magnificent  temple.  I  began  to  mea- 
fure  the  firft  gate  I  came  to  on  the  north,  and  to  take  an  account  of  it 
in  my  book.  The  man  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout  had  fent  with  me,  who  had 
no  authority  here,  pretended  to  tell  me  I  fhould  not  venture  to  do  fo,  be- 
fore I  had  been  with  the  great  Sheik,  who  had  encamp'd  near  the  river 
to  the  north.  I  order'd  him  to  fhew  me  the  way  to  him,  and  they  con- 
dueled  me  to  the  village  of  Carnack,  where  I  found  the  Sheik  I  had  been 
with  in  the  morning,  who  fent  a  man  with  me  to  fee  the  ruins ;  and  the 
fecretary  came  whom  the  great  man  had  fent  to  go  along  with  me.  I 
afked  him  if  I  might  meafure  and  write  down  my  obfervations.  He  told 
me  I  might  do  what  I  pleafed,  and  ftay'd  with  me  two  or  three  hours  j 
and  the  people  of  the  village  came  round  me,  when  they  obferved  I  was 
meafuring  the  temple.  This  firft  day  I  had  not  taken  care  to  have  any 
provifions  brought,  and  defiring  the  man  that  was  fent  with  me  to  bring 
me  fome  bread,  he  went  and  brought  me  of  fuch  fare  as  they  have,  and 
I  dined  in  the  temple ;  and  having  order'd  my  boat  to  lie  under  the  en- 
campment of  the  Sheik,  I  waited  on  him  in  his  tent.  He  ask'd  if  we 
would  not  fup  with  his  fecretary  ;  which  we  excufed,  being  fatigued, 
and  went  to  our  boat.  Thefe  encampments  are  in  the  regular  manner  of 
an  army  -.  In  the  middle  was  the  large  green  tent  of  the  Sheik,  who  fat  in 
a  corner  of  it,  with  three  or  four  of  his  officers  fitting  by  him  ;  they  go 
3  and 


O  N  E  G  Y  P  T.  90 

and  encamp  about  in  this  manner  all  over  their  territories,  to  get  in  their 
tributes  or  rents,  which  are  paid  in  kind.  The  fecretary  came  with  me 
to  the  boat,  and  came  into  it,  and  took  fome  little  refrefhments.  I  con- 
tinued here  viewing  the  temple  as  long  as  I  pleafed,  and  order'd  the  men 
to  provide  a  dinner  for  me  in  the  boat  and  bring  it  -  to  the  temple,  which 
they  did  every  day.  The  cavalcade  of  the  Sheik  paffing  by,  a  great  num- 
ber of  them  rid  into  the  temple  and  talk'd  to  me;  and  one  day  a  fingle 
man  on  horfeback  came  and  told  me  that  there  was  a  large  cavern  under 
the  temple,  where  often  a  great  number  of  rogues  lay  hid,  and  bid  me  take  * 
care,  feeming  to  defign  to  intimidate  me.  The  Sheik's  fon  of  the  place  came 
to  me,  and  conducted  me  to  a  part  of  the  temple  inhabited  by  the  women, 
and  giving  them  notice  to  keep  out  of  the  way,  I  went  in,  and  view'd  it, 
with  all  manner  of  liberty. .  One  day  the  Caia  or  firft  officer  of  the  Sheik 
came  and  dined  with  me,  and  I  made  him  a  prefent  ;  which  he  return'd, 
by  making  me  a  prefent  of  a  lamb. 

The  great  and  famous  city  of  Thebes  was  on  both  fides  of  the  river  ;  Thebes, 
fome  fay  it  was  built  by  Ofiris,  others  by  Bufiris  the  fecond  of  that  name, 
and  that  it  was  about  eighteen  miles  round  p,  others  fay  it  extended  ten 
miles  in  length  q.  On  the  weft  fide  was  the  part  call'd  Memnonium,  from 
the  temple  and  ftatue  of  Memnon  there.  In  the  time  of  Strabo,  the  city 
feems  to  have  been  chiefly  on  the  eaft  fide,  and  was  call'd  the  great  Diof-  Diofcolk 
polis,  on  account  of  the  famous  temple  built  there  to  the  Deity  they 
chiefly  worfliipped,  which  probably  was  the  temple  of  Carnack.  About 
a  league  fouth  of  it  is  Luxercin,  where  are  remains  of  another  grand  build- 
ing, which  was  probably  the  temple  or  monument  of  Ofymanduas;  and 
the  antient  Diofpolis  feems  to  have  been  between  thefe  two  temples,  as  the 
grand  entrances  to  both  are  that  way.  The  hundred  gates  of  Thebes  are 
mention'd  by  many  authors,  and  are  commonly  thought  to  have  been  gates 
of  the  city ;  but  there  are  no  figns  of  walls  round  it,  nor  were  wall'd  towns 
common  in  Egypt.  And  as  there  are  remains  of  fuch  fine  gates  about  their 
temples,  it  might  be  thought  that  thefe  might  give  occafion,  as  Diodo- 
rus «  obferves,  for  this  obfervation  of  the  poet;  but  as  he  mentions  that  two 
hundred  chariots  could  be  fent  out  of  them  with  armed  men,  this  may  be 
thought  not  to  agree  fo  well  with  the  gates  of  the  temples,  unlefs  we  iup- 
pofe  that  they  join'd  in  fome  folemn  ads  of  religion  before  they  went  out 
to  war  :  Others  ■  however  think  they  might  be  rather  fo  many  palaces  of 
Princes  or  great  men  of  the  city,  who  could  each  of  them  on  any  exi- 
gency, fend  out  fo  many  chariots  to  the  war ;  and  this  interpretation  feems 
to  be  countenanced  by  the  poet,  who  immediately  after  he  has  mention'd 
the  great  wealth  of  their  houfes,  fpeaks  of  their  hundred  gates,  and  of 
the  chariots  and  men  that  could  be  fent  out  of  them.  Carnack  is  a  very 
poor  village,  in  which  the  people  have  moftly  built  their  cottages  among 
the  ruins  to  the  fouth  of  the  temple.    There  were  four  remarkable  temples 

p  Ton  sr£g>'£oAou  au/Vou  t/Vof>;f  aoS-(W  saSlw     «AA«  nrtAAa  ji,  ^sj-aAa  ErsoTrtjAiWa  tuv  I'eawv,  ut 

ix«T0v  H,  riosapj*.a*\*.  Diodorus  i.  p.  42.  hdlo^hiJlV  UUfM&Mh  Xtt&*Bi»*  JToAv'tuA**. Diido- 

15  4*WW<a  3  /£V>i  tk  [XiyiSvc  owjiii  \tt\  dyioy,Kot1x     dorus  i.  p.  43. 

raXnt  to  pf-xo;'  ki  fk&  wAflw.  K«i  Tss'rw*  St     roA-  6  Thcbre,  ut  Homero  dictum  eft,  centum  por- 

Aa  ntfrnigMm  iUy&i'egr'       &           o-uvoutHTo**  tas,  five,  ut  alii  aiunt,  centum  aulas  habent,  to 

S  ifn  iv  tjj  Agj&ft  i»  iwt£  >J  woAif.  Strabo  tidem  olim  principum  domos:  Soiitalque  fingu- 

xvii.  p.  816.  Jas,  ubi  negotium  exegerat,  dena  armatorum  mii- 

K«i  p1fo!roA<5  Aiof  a-oAi;  ptyaAtf.  Ptol.  iv.  c.  5.  lia  effundere.  Pmpwius  Mela  1.  xi.  c.  9. 


"Evjcj  Si  (peco-iv  a'  n-JA«f  iv.mii  i 


at 


OBS E  RVA  T IONS 

at  Thebes;  and  this  is,  without  doubt,  the  temple  mentioned  by  Diodorus 
Siculus,  as  of  a  moft  extraordinary  lize,  though  in  no  part  incredible  to 
any  one,  who  has  examined  the  great  remains  of  this  ftupendous  building, 
the  ruins  of  which  extend  near  half  a  mile  in  length,  and  he  computes 
it  to  have  been  above  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circumference ;  he  fays  alfo, 
that  the  height  of  the  temple  was  forty  five  cubits,  and  that  the  walls  of 
it  were  twenty-four  feet  thick,  in  both  which  refpects  it  will  appear,  that 
this  temple,  in  fome  parts  of  it,  exceeds  the  account  Diodorus  gave,  though 
it  has  been  looked  on  as  an  extravagant  relation  'j  a  plan  of  this  temple, 
and  a  fecfion  of  the  middle  part  of  it,  and  a  view  of  the  gates  may  be 
feen  in  the  twenty-eighth  plate. 

In  order  to  underftand  the  nature  of  this  temple,  and  of  Egyptian  temples 
in  general,  I  have  below  given  Strabo's  "  defcription  of  them.  There  are 
no  lefs  than  eight  grand  entrances  to  the  temple,  to  three  of  which  there 
were  avenues  of  fphynxes  of  a  great  length,  two  of  them  having  fixty  fta- 
tues  on  each  fide,  according  to  the  manner  of  building  with  the  Egyp- 
tians, who  commonly  had  before  their  temples  what  the  Greeks  called  the 
Dromos,  marked  A,  about  a  hundred  feet  wide,  and  three  or  four  times 
as  long,  adorned  in  this  manner.  After  this,  to  one  of  the  entrances  are 
four  grand  gateways,  B  C  D  E,  that  lead  to  the  temple  j  they  are  about 
thirty-five  feet  deep,  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  length,  and  muft,  before 
the  ground  was  railed,  be  from  fifty  to  fixty  feet  high;  there  is  an  en- 
trance to  them  at  one  end,  and  a  flight  of  flairs  that  leads  up  to  the  open- 
ing, over  the  door  in  the  middle;  for  thefe  buildings  are  open  in  the 
middle,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  view  of  them :  From  this  part  there  is  another 
flight  of  fteps,  up  the  middle  of  the  other  fide  of  the  building  that  lands 
at  the  top :  Thefe  buildings  leflen  very  much  every  way  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top,  like  a  pyramid ;  for  which  reafon  I  call  them  the  pyramidal 
gateways.  It  appears  from  three  medals  that  have  been  found,  that  they 
put  ftatues  over  the  door- place;  in  one  of  them  I  met  with  in  Egypt, 
feems  to  be  an  eagle ;  in  another  I  have  feen  two  canopufes,  with  the  lote 
flower  on  the  heads  of  them ;  and  in  the  drawing  of  a  fourth,  a  ftatue 
with  a  pike  in  the  left  hand,  and  fomething  in  the  right.  The  firft  of 
thefe  four  gates  B  is  of  red  granite,  finely  polifhed,  and  beautifully  adorned 
with  hieroglyphics,  in  four  compartments  in  the  height  of  it  on  each 
fide  of  the  gate  without,  and  three  in  the  infide,  in  each  of  which  are 
the  figures  of  two  men,  bigger  than  the  life,  and  of  exquifite  workman- 
fhip;  further  on  each  fide  are  coloflal  figures,  with  hieroglyphics  under 
them,  which  are  in  height  about  fifteen  feet  above  ground,  and  in  this 


*  Tet7o(owv  j/oco  hgw  xzlu<TKWU<Sulm  to\te  x»AA@" 
it,  to  jUej-eO^  SttufAixsuv,  iv  eivatt  to  zrctAfluoTOiov 
TgicrxajcTexoo  5&Slm  tijv  uri^i^^ov,  wtdt  Si  Xj  tet- 
TUp^.-Aivlu  to  liij'©'*  ejjtooi  Si       Tfvlx/fm  STO- 

Su!/  TO  EffACST©*  TW  T01%O!V.    DiodORlS  1.    p.  43. 

u  Strabo  gives  this  defcription  of  the  Egyptian 
temples. 

Their  temples  are  built  in  this  manner. 

At  the  firft  entrance  is  a  court  or  avenue, 
paved  with  ftone,  about  one  hundred  feet  wide, 
and  three  or  four  hundred  feet  long,  and  fome- 
times  more  ;  this  is  called  the  Dromos,  o'  Aoo'/*©*. 
On  each  fide  are  fphynxes,  in  two  rows,  about 
thirty  feet  apart.  After  this,  is  one  or  more  large 
veftibles,  ™  «-SoVva,oi.  After  that  is  the  temple, 


0'  »swf,  which  confifts  of  a  large  court  or  ante-tem- 
ple, a  and  the  inner nioft  temple,  o'  e-t;*;?, 
which  is  not  very  large,  and  in  which  there,  is 
no  fculpture,  or  at  lealt,  if  there  is,  'tis  of  fome 
beaft,  but  never  of  the  human  figure.  At  the 
further  end  of  the  ante-temple  are  fort  of  wings, 
of  the  height  of  the  temple,  the  walls  being  as 
far  diftant  from  one  another,  as  the  breadth  of 
the  foundation  of  the  walls  of  the  temple ;  and 
are  fo  built,  as  to  incline  towards  one  another  for 
about  feventy-five  or  ninety  feet  in  height ;  on 
thefe  walls,  very  large  figures  arc  cut,  much  like 
the  Hetrufcan  and  Greek  works.  Strabo  xvii. 
p.  805. 

latter 


Back  of 
Foldout 
Not  Imaged 


ON  EGYPT. 

latter  manner  the  others  are  adorned,  without  fuch  compartments  as  are  in 
the  granite  gateway.  On  each  fide  of  thefe  gates  there  feem  to  have  been 
coloflal  ftatues ;  on  the  outfide  of  the  firft,  is  a  red  granite  ftatue  on  one 
fide,  and  on  the  other,  a  ftatue  of  a  fort  of  granite  compofed  of  fmall  peb- 
bles; one  alfo  remains  within,  of  white  marble,  the  head  being  off;  it  has 
round  the  middle  a  belt,  with  a  fhort  dagger  ftuck  into  it.  Thefe  ftatues 
have  each  of  them  in  one  hand,  the  crofs  with  a  handle,  which  is  faid  to 
reprefent  the  four  elements;  I  took  fome  meafures  from  one,  and  found 
the  hand  to  be  fixteen  inches  broad,  and  the  head  five  feet  fix  inches  long; 
on  the  back  of  the  ftone,  behind  their  heads,  is  a  tortoife,  cut  in  an  oval, 
and  fome  other  hieroglyphics  about  it ;  on  the  other  fide  are  fragments  of 
fuch  another  ftatue.  I  faw  likewife  on  the  outfide  of  the  gate,  many 
pieces  of  a  rough  fort  of  red  marble,  like  porphyry,  and  of  that  yellow 
fpangling  marble  which  is  imitated  at  Venice.  The  next  gate,  C.  is  very 
much  ruined,  but  has  only  two  ftories  of  coloffal  figures  to  the  fouth,  and 
one  to  the  north.  The  third  gate,  D.  has  hieroglyphics  all  round,  and  coloflal 
figures  of  men ;  here  likewife  are  remains  of  a  ftatue  of  white  marble,  the 
head  of  which  has  a  ferpent  work'd  on  its  cafque,-  it  is  five  feet  diameter, 
and  meafured  four  feet  and  a  half  from  the  lower  part  of  the  neck  to  the 
top  of  the  head.  The  fourth  gateway,  E.  is  now  a  heap  of  ruins ;  before 
it  are  fome  pieces  of  a  red  granite  ftatue,  the  trunk  of  which  I  found  to 
be  feven  feet  and  an  half  broad.  To  the  eaft  of  thefe  gates  is  the  building, 
F.  and  alfo  a  large  pond,  G.  which  probably  was  a  refervoir  of  the  Nile 
water,  for  the  ufe  of  the  temple:  Thefe  gateways  were  called  by  the  Greeks 
ante-gates  or  veftibules,  (to  otsv>m.)  From  them  walls  were  built,  that  extend- 
ed not  only  to  the  other  gates,  to  make  the  entire  enclofure  of  the  temple, 
but  alfo  to  enclofe  the  particular  courts  between  the  gates  and  the  temple. 
At  the  entrance  within  the  enclofure  of  the  temple,  towards  the  obelisks, 
are  ruins  of  a  coloflal  ftatue,  of  red  granite.  And  though  this  entrance 
from  the  fouth  was  fo  grand,  yet  it  was  the  way  only  to  the  fide  of  the 
temple,  the  fituation  of  the  ground  not  permitting  fuch  an  entrance  to 
the  front,  where  every  thing  elfe  is  executed  in  the  grandeft  manner ; 
which  I  fhall  defcribe  in  its  place. 

About  a  hundred  and  fifty  paces  to  the  weft  is  another  fuperb  entrance, 
with  the  fame  kind  of  avenue  of  fphynxes  leading  to  fuch  a  gateway  H, 
as  is  reprefented  by  the  upright,  Z.  adorned  likewife  with  hieroglyphics. 
A  hundred  and  eighty-three  paces  from  this,  is  a  grand  pyramidal  gateway, 
I,  and  adjoining  to  it  is  the  large  building  K.  divided  into  feveral  parts, 
and  feems  to  have  continued  on  to  the  temple.  I  got  admiflion  into  it  by 
the  particular  favour  of  the  Sheik,  though  it  is  the  habitation  of  the  wo- 
men. To  the  eaft  of  this  is  another  entrance,  L.  to  what  I  call  the  ante-tem- 
ple, M,  which  is  to  the  welt  of  the  grand  building;  as  there  is  likewife  on 
the  north  fide  of  that  court  at  N.  A  fifth  entrance  O.  is  the  temple  itfelf 
on  the  north  fide,  where  there  feem'd  to  be  confiderable  buildings,  now 
almoft  entirely  buried  by  the  rubbifh,  which  was  probably  thrown  there  from 
fome  village  that  formerly  was  near.  A  fixth  entrance,  P.  is  alfo  from 
the  north,  where  every  thing  likewife  is  buried,  and  is  oppofite  to  the  firft 
grand  entrance  mentioned  to  the  fouth.  A  feventh,  Q.  is  further  to  the  eaft 
on  the  fame  fide ;  and  another  oppofite  to  it,  R.  It  is  probable  there  was 
an  entrance  alfo  further  on  at  S,  for  near  it  is  a  grand  gate ;  and  be- 
Vol.  I.  B  b  tween 


OBSERVATIONS 

tween  that  and  the  temple,  ruins  of  great  buildings,  which  I  fuppofe  led  to 
the  temple,  though  by  reafon  of  the  ruinous  ftate  of  that  part  of  it,  I 
could  not  fix  the  entrance.  It  is  probable  there  was  another  oppofite  to  it, 
and  that  the  twelfth  entrance,  T.  was  at  the  eaft  end,  at  fome  diftance 
from  the  great  eaftern  building.  This  grand  gateway  appears  not  to  have 
been  finifhed,  and  it  is  from  this  to  the  great  pyramidal  entrance  in  the 
weft  front  I  am  going  to  defcribe,  that  I  fuppofe  the  temple  muft  be  near  half 
a  mile  in  length.  The  grand  entrance  V.  to  the  weft,  which  may  be  called, 
at  pleafure,  either  a  gateway  or  a  front  to  the  great  court  before  the  temple, 
is  the  moft  magnificent  of  the  kind  that  probably  was  ever  built  in  Egypt ; 
and  it  may  be  a  mark  of  its  antiquity  that  it  is  built  in  the  moft  fimple 
and  plain  manner,  without  any  hieroglyphics  or  other  ornaments ;  very 
much  refembling  what  we  call  the  ruftic ;  it  is  forty  feet  broad,  the  bot- 
tom part  being  a  folid  wall  of  that  thicknefs.  There  feem  to  have  been 
flairs  up  to  the  lower  windows,  from  the  north  end,  where  at  prefent  it 
is  much  ruined,  fo  as  that  one  may  eafily  go  up ;  and  probably  there 
was  a  paffage  to  the  other  fide  over  the  gateway,  now  a  heap  of  ruins, 
from  whence  the  flairs  might  be  continued  up  to  the  top,  as  they 
are  in  other  buildings  of  the  like  nature;  for  in  the  front  there  are  two 
ftories  of  eight  fmall  windows ;  the  upper  ftory  is  near  the  top,  which 
is  fo  ruined  in  moft  parts,  that  at  a  diftance  they  appear  fomething  like 
battlements.  Within  this  is  a  large  open  court,  having  on  each  fide,  at  the 
the  firft  entrance,  a  terrace,  W.  eighty  feet  broad,  and  fix  feet  above  the 
ground,  as  it  is  now  raifed,  to  which  I  fuppofe  there  were  fteps  up  from  the 
colonnade  which  is  dn  each  fide  of  this  ante-temple.  Thefe  pillars  have 
fquare  capitals ;  and  on  each  fide  of  the  middle  walk,  to  the  inner  part  of 
the  temple,  there  was  a  very  grand  colonnade  of  pillars,  above  forty  feet  high, 
and  eight  feet  diameter,  with  large  capitals  like  a  vafe,  only  worked  with 
fome  figures  in  lines :  On  the  top  of  thefe  capitals  is  a  fquare  ftone,  as 
for  a  pedeftal  to  place  ftatues  on :  At  the  further  end  of  thefe  pillars,  are 
two  colloffal  ftatutes,  X.  of  red  granite,  on  pedeftals  four  feet  wide,  and 
fix  feet  long;  the  heads  are  broke  off,  and  the  ftatues  much  disfigured: 
The  pilafters  behind  the  ftatues  are  adorned  with  hieroglyphics,  and  fo  alfo  is 
an  oval  below  the  navel  of  theftatue.  Strabo  fays,  that  within  the  gateways, 
was  the  temple,  which  confifted  of  the  ante-temple,  and  the  temple  properly 
fo  called,  or  the  inner  temple,  which  feems  to  be  the  moft  facred  part  of  it: 
What  I  have  defcribed  muft  be  the  ante-temple;  what  follows  in  the  de- 
fcription  of  the  Egyptian  temples,  is  fomewhat  difficult;  fork  is  faid,  that 
at  the  further  end  *  of  the  ante-temple  are  a  fort  of  wings,  of  the  height 
of  the  temple,  the  walls  being  as  far  diftant  from  one  another,  as  the 
foundation  of  the  walls  of  the  temple,  and  fo  built,  as  to  incline  towards 
one  another  for  feventy-five  or  ninety  feet  in  height  \  In  this  manner 
the  walls,  almoft  intirely  ruined,  feem  to  be  built  between  this  ante-temple 

w  So  the  word  t^oWou,  feems  to  mean,  at  to  be  much  narrower  at  top  than  at  bottom : 

the  further  end,  or  advanc'd  before  it,  that  is,  Poffibly  the  meaning  may  be,  that  each  wall 

between  the  ante-temple  and  the  inner  temple,  d  ;  was  built  in  fuch  a  manner  on  the  outfide,  with 

fo  thefe  words,  though  very  obfcure,  feem  to  be  a  plain,  inclining  the  one  towards  the  other. 
undtrftood:"En&TUt<-w&%a&u?zgoiovli,KKli7iivt>jti<rxs       *  I  meafured  the  pyramidal  top  of  the  great 

^e«f*fAaf  et^wk  5TEk7(i'xok1«  »  l£ifxov7<6.    This  obelifk,  which  was  fallen,  and  found  it  to  be  ten 

may  be  in  the  manner  of  the  pyramidal  gates  de-  feet  nine  inches  long,  and  that  'twas  five  feet  nine 

fcribcd,  in  which  the  walls  incline  inwards,  fo  as  inches  fquare,  at  the  bottom  of  the  pyramid. 


and 


ON  EGYPT. 

and  the  inner  temple,  on  each  fide  of  that  grand  entrance,  Y,  which  may 
be  feen  in  the  plan,  and  has  more  of  the  beautiful  magnificence  in  it,  than 
any  other  building  I  ever  faw,  the  door  itfelf  being  very  high,  and  yet 
in  a  juft  proportion;  and  the  walls  on  each  fide  of  the  paflage,  as  well  as 
the  doors,  are  adorned  with  moft  beautiful  hieroglyphics,  and  figures  of 
men,  in  fix  compartments,  above  nine  feet  high  and  twelve  wide,  every 
compartment  having  the  figures  of  three  men  in  it ;  thefe  buildings  in 
the  temple  being  defcribed  to  have  been  adorned  with  fculptures  of  men, 
after  the  Greek  and  Hetrufcan  manner.    Beyond  this,  is  the  inner  temple 
itfelf,  a,  in  which  there  are  fixteen  rows  of  pillars  one  way,  and  eighteen 
the  other,  the  two  middle  rows  are  eleven  feet  diameter,  the  others 
eight,  with  capitals  of  a  fquare  ftone  only  on  them;  over  the  two 
middle  rows,  the  temple  was  higher  than  in  the  other  parts,  having  over 
the  fpace  between  the  two  pillars,  a  fort  of  windows  with  twelve  lattices 
of  ftone  in  each  of  them,  made  fomething  like  the  holes  in  the  walls  of 
cities,  to  fpy  out  at,  and  to  annoy  the  enemy  with  their  arms;  thefe  feem 
to  be  defigned  to  convey  light  into  the  temple,  which  is  fomething  ex- 
traordinary, there  being  rarely  any  windows  in  the  Egyptian  buildings. 
Every  part  of  this  temple  is  covered,  infide  and  out,  with  hieroglyphics 
and  other  reprefentations,  in  a  very  extraordinary  manner ,-  and  it  is  of 
this  part  of  the  temple  that  our  author  feems  to  fpeak,  when  he  fays, 
that  they  put  no  ftatues  in  it,  nor  any  human  figure,  but  fculptures  of  a- 
nimals;  and  in  fome  other  temples  I  have  obferved,  that  the  human  body 
has  always  on  it  the  head  of  fome  bird  or  beaft :  This  mull  be  underftood 
of  the  infide  of  the  temple ;  for  the  outfide  of  this  building  is  beautified 
in  a  very  grand  manner,  chiefly  on  the  north  fide,  where  there  are 
reprefentations  of  battles  with  horfes  and  chariots,  one  of  which  I  obferved 
was  drawn  by  flags.    At  the  other  end  of  this  inner  temple  there  was  an 
entrance,  b.  now  in  ruins,  and  without  it,  what  I  took  to  be  a  raifed  terrace, 
c.  about  thirty  feet  wide,  the  front  of  which  has  carved  on  it  two  barks 
with  covers  on  them,  like  the  Venetian  gondolas ;  at  one  end  of  it  is  a  fculp- 
ture,  refembling  a  ray  of  the  fun;  in  the  boat,  men  are  reprefented 
working  it  along  with  their  poles,  and  one  ftands  towards  the  head  of  the 
bark,  and  receives  the  homage  of  the  others.  Here  is  the  grand  entrance 
defcribed  from  the  fouth,  and  on  each  fide  of  the  entrance  into  the  temple 
itfelf,  at  the  eaft  end  of  it,  are  two  obelifks,  d,  having  only  one  column  of 
hieroglyphics,  and  are  fixty-three  feet  four  inches  high,  and  fix  feet  fquare. 
Further  to  the  eaft,  are  two  other  obelifks,  e.    feven  feet  fix  inches 
fquare,  and  feventy-three  feet  high  ;   the  obelifk  to  the  fouth  is  fallen 
down;  they  have  three  columns  of  hieroglyphics  all  the  way  down:  All 
thefe  obelisks,  are  of  red  granite.    A  little  further,  a  wall  is  built 
on  each  fide  to  the  north  and  fouth ;  and  on  the  weft  fide  of  it  are  feve- 
ral  coloflal  bulls  or  half  ftatues  at  f.  very  much  defaced.   Continuing  on 
along  the  middle  to  the  eaft,  we  came  at  length  to  the  fmall  granite 
room,  g.  with  a  room  on  each  fide  of  it,  which  feems  to  have  been  a  place 
of  more  than  ordinary  fandity,  and  the  entrance  to  it  is  adorned  with  a  very 
particular  fort  of  fquare  columns  ;  one  of  them  I  obferved,  was  a  knot  of 
three  fuch  pillars  as  are  reprefented  at  h.    It  is  poffible  this  granite  room 
was  the  place  allotted  for  the  beautiful  noble  virgin,  that  was  annu- 
ally 


3 


jj6 


OBSERVATIONS 


ally  confecrated  to  the  Deity  in  a  very  ftrange  manner  y.  All  along  on 
each  fide  are  feveral  apartments  much  ruin'd,  which  might  ferve  both  for 
the  priefts  and  for  the  beafts  they  kept  for  facrifice.  And  about  a  hundred 
and  fixty  feet  to  the  eaft  is  another  large  building  z.  confifting  of  feveral 
fmall  apartments,  on  each  fide  of  a  fpacious  colonnade,  as  if  for  the  offi- 
cers of  the  temple.  To  the  north,  without  this  enclofure,  are  ruins  of 
buildings,  with  the  grand  gate,  i.  before  them,  which  feem  to  have  led 
to  the  temple.  Further  to  the  eaft  of  the  other  building,  are  figns  of  a 
colonnade,  k.  almoft  buried  in  the  ground  ;  to  the  eaft  of  this  is  the 
mod  eaftern  grand  gate,  T.  mention'd  as  unfinifh'd,  where  the  enclofure 
of  this  vaft  temple  ends 
Temple  eaft  The  Sheik's  fon  offer'd  to  go  with  me  to  a  temple  four  miles  to  the  eaft 
k  of  Carnack,  and  he  came  early  in  the  morning  to  the  boat  with  horfes,  and 
laying  a  carpet  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  I  entertain'd  him  with  coffee, 
and  we  fet  forward  towards  the  temple  ;  the  fon  alfo  of  the  Caia,  or 
fteward  of  the  great  governor  went  along  with  us.  The  plain  to  the  eaft 
naturally  runs  into  a  coarfe  grafs,  much  like  a  rufh,  great  part  of  it  lying 
wafte ;  and  where  it  is  fown,  the  ground  is  laid  in  broad  low  hillocks, 
round  which  there  are  fmall  irregular  channels,  the  corn  not  being  fown 
at  top  of  thefe  hillocks,  but  only  near  the  channels,  in  order,  I  fuppole,  that 
it  may  be  the  more  eafily  water'd  ;  for  men  raife  the  water  out  of  the 
Nile  into  a  fmall  canal,  which  conveys  it  to  all  parts.  I  omitted  to  enquire 
how  they  cultivated  the  land,  which  is  probably  only  by  harrowing  in  the 
corn.  About  four  miles  eaft  of  Carnack,  are  the  remains  of  a  temple 
fronting  to  the  north  weft,  a  plan  of  which  may  be  feen  in  the  twenty- 
feventh  plate  at  D.  with  a  plan  of  the  grand  gate,  E.  which  ftands  in  that 
manner  to  the  temple,  and  an  upright  of  it,  F.  It  is  about  two  hundred 
feet  north  of  the  temple,  and  is  adorn'd  with  four  compartments  of  hiero- 
glyphics. The  walls  in  the  front  of  the  temple  between  the  pillars,  are 
about  feven  feet  high,  cover'd  alfo  with  hieroglyphics.  Among  thofe  on 
the  gate,  a  perfon  is  reprefented  offers  fomething  that  is  round,  it  may 
be  fome  fruit,  to  a  perfon  fitting  in  a  chair;  another  offering  beafts. 
The  heads,  legs  and  arms  of  the  figures  are  defaced.  The  pillar  on 
each  fide  of  the  door  is  that  beautiful  one  Numb,  i  r .  in  the  fe- 
cond  plate  ot  the  architecture  of  Egyptian  columns;  the  other  pillars  are 
of  Numb.  7.  of  the  firft  of  thofe  plates;  but  being  fo  near  to  one  ano- 
ther, I  fuppofe  they  were  without  bafes.  At  the  further  end,  where  I 
conjecture  there  was  a  door  on  each  fide,  I  faw  the  remains  of  a  fquare 
piliar  of  red  granite,  which  might  be  the  ruins  of  a  door-cafe.  All 
this  temple  is  very  much  deftroy'd,  except  the  front,  which  is  not  perfect. 
The  grand  gate  is  intire ;  and  I  faw  a  fphynx  near  it  about  four  feet  long. 
It  is  probable  the  antient  Thebes  extended  formerly  to  this  place.  The 

y  Strabo  xvii.  p.  S16.  a  pillar  fomewhat  rcfembling  the  Corinthian  order. 

z  About  the  gates  of  the  temple  I  took  parti-  A  peacock  on  another,  with  the  bell  capital ;  both 

cular  notice  of  the  following  hieroglyphics.    On  which  are  in  the  plate  of  Egyptian  pillars.  A 

one  a  man  offers  to  the  Deity,  in  each  hand  a  man  ftanding  before  four  monkies,  which  are  on 

vafe  like  a  chocolate  dilh,  having  on  each  arm  two  floors,  as  I  think  two  on  each  floor.  Three 

fomething  refcmbling  a  folded  napkin.    In  aeo-  trees  on  a  pedeftal.    It  is  to  be  obferved  that  the 

ther,  one  feems  to  offer  himfelf  to  two  Deities,  heads,  hands  and  legs  of  many  of  the  figures  are 

which  by  fome  emblems,  I  conjectured  to  be  the  defaced  ;  but  thofe  cut  on  granite  remain  intire, 

fun  and  moon.  A  man  offers  fomething  like  apples  as  they  could  not  be  fo  eafily  disfigured,  by  rea- 

to  one  on  a  throne  ;  four  Deities  being  on  thrones  fon  of  the  hardnefs  of  the  Hone. 


above,  as  on  another  floor.  A  bird  like  a  hawk,  on 


patriarch's 


ON    EGYPT.  97 

patriarch's  map  has  Maximianopolis,  a  bilhop's  fee,  in  this  fituation,  call'd 
in  Arabic,  Medmut,  which  may  be  one  of  the  villages  of  old  Thebes,  men- 
tion'd  by  Strabo,  that  might  after  increafe  to  a  fmall  town. 

Returning  I  view'd  the  ruins  of  what  I  fuppofed  to  be  a  round  temple, 
and  appear'd  to  have  been  a  hundred  and  feventy-five  feet  diameter.  I 
faw  alfo  fome  remains  of  a  grand  gate  to  the  weft  of  it.  Having  view'd 
thefe  things,  we  return'd,  and  I  entertain'd  my  conductors  with  coffee  at 
the  boat,  and  made  the  Sheik's  fon  a  prefent  that  I  thought  would  be  agree- 
able to  him.  This  young  man  had  fhewn  me  great  civility,  imagining  that 
I  might  be  a  phyfician,  and  defired  my  advice  in  a  certain  cafe.  The  next 
day  I  fpent  in  reviewing  the  great  temple  of  Carnack,  and  taking  feveral 
heights.  I  had  thoughts  of  going  to  Luxerein,  and  fo  coming  from  that 
place  to  take  leave  of  the  great  man  ;  but  his  Caia,  who  came  to  me 
very  kindly,  told  me  it  was  beft  to  take  leave  of  the  Sheik  before  I  depart- 
ed, fo  I  waited  on  him.  He  was  very  civil,  and  told  me  I  might  fee  Luxerein 
without  any  trouble;  and  when  1  was  return'd,  the  fecretary  fent  me  provi- 
fions  from  the  Sheik's  kitchen.  Part  of  Thebes,  which  was  weft  of  the  ri- 
ver, is  now  call'd  Gournou  ;  but  the  Memnonium,  which  was  the  moft 
weftern  part,  I  take  to  be  now  call'd  Medinet  Haboti.  When  I  went  on 
that  fide,  1  fent  to  the  Sheik,  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  from  the  great  Sheik 
of  Furfhout;  he  came  to  the  boat,  and  conducted  me  to  his  houfe  at  the 
village  of  Gournou,  mark'd  A.  in  the  view  I  have  given  of  this  fide  in 
the  twenty-ninth  plate.  The  Sheik  furnifh'd  me  with  horfes,  and  we  fet 
out  to  go  to  Biban-el-Meluke,  and  went  about  a  mile  to  the  north,  in  a 
fort  of  a  ftreet,  on  each  fide  of  which  the  rocky  ground  about  ten  feet 
high  has  rooms  cut  into  it,  fome  of  them  being  fupported  with  pillars ; 
and,  as  there  is  not  the  leaft  fign  in  the  plain  of  private  buildings,  I  thought 
that  thefe  in  the  very  earlieft  times  might  ferve  as  houfes,  and  be  the  firft 
invention  after  tents,  and  contrived  as  a  better  fhelter  from  wind,  and  the 
cold  of  the  nights.  It  is  a  fort  of  gravelly  ftone,  and  the  doors  are  cut 
regularly  to  the  ftreet.  We  then  turn'd  to  the  north  weft,  enter'd  in  be- 
tween the  high  rocky  hills,  and  went  in  a  very  narrow  valley.  We  after 
turn'd  towards  the  fouth,  and  then  to  the  north  weft,  going  in  all  between 
the  mountains  about  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  half,  as  reprefented  in  the  plan 
mark'd  N.  in  the  thirty-firft  plate.  We  came  to  a  part  that  is  wider,  being 
a  round  opening,  like  an  amphitheatre,  and  afcended  by  a  narrow  fteep 
paflage  about  ten  feet  high,  which  feems  to  have  been  broke  down  thro' 
the  rock,  the  antient  paflage  being  probably  from  the  Memnonium  under  Sepulchres 
the  hills,  and  it  may  be  from  the  grottos  1  enter'd  on  the  other  fide.  By  °0{f 
this  paflage  we  came  to  Biban-el-Meluke,  or  Bab-il-Meluke,  that  is,  The 
gate  or  court  of  the  Kings,  being  the  fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes. 
Diodorus  Siculus  *  makes  mention  of  them  as  the  very  wonderful  fepulchres 

KUp^Trhtaiti  $iAt7it+«f«N!K  uVe^CoAtiu  a*  «7roAciVov7otf.  u.t.u,  Sicts  ix^icct.  Strabo  xvii.  p.  816. 
'Oi  fih  av  iE^«f  fK  twv  avayeytpw  itpzeav  sufyVxeiv       It  is  very  probable  that  what  Strabo  calls  t« 

iitia.  srjsj  tcI*  tet7«^'kov7«  T«if«?  ,3«o-jA(jts'f -  h'c  S\  eT&Ma,  are  the  fame  as  Paufanias  calls  cd  cv&y- 

nToAt^ov  tcv  Aa'ys  A«ite7v«*,  <p«ff)i;,  stt7 axcu&xu  j-tr,  which  fignifies  not  only  pipes  or  tubes,  but 

po'vo*,  m  t«  uaKha  K.ce,7iQ$xglo  x»3-'  xV     oi  «r  zff«££-  any  pafiages  or  grottos  under  ground  ;  and  near 

Gas'Ao^jv  ifw8  «'f  iwvvt  Tbs  toVw.    Diodorus  1.  i.  thele,  our  author  fays,  the  famous  colofial  ftauie 

p.  43-  ftood. 

Vol.  I.  C  c  of 


OBSERVATIONS 

of  the  Kings  of  Thebes,  fuch  as  never  could  be  exceeded  by  any  thing 
that  was  afterwards  executed  in  this  kind.    He  fays  forty-feven  of  them 
were  mention'd  in  their  hiftories,  that  feventeen  only  remain'd  to  the  time 
of  Ptolemy  the  fon  of  Lagus,  as  the  hiftorians  of  that  time,  and  particu- 
larly Hecatsus  relates ;  and  adds  that  moll  of  them  were  deftroy'd  in  his 
time ;  tho'  probably  many  of  the  forty-feven  he  mentions  were  built,  and 
not  cut  into  the  hills  like  thefe  that  remain,  as  it  is  not  eafy  to  deftroy 
fuch  fort  of  monuments.    Strabo  fays  that  above  the  Memnonium  were  the 
fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes,  in  grottos  cut  out  of  the  rock,  being 
about  forty  in  number,  wonderfully  executed,  and  worthy  to  be  feen.  In 
them  he  fays  were  obelifks  with  infcriptions  on  them,  fetting  forth  the 
riches,  power  and  empire  of  thofe  Kings,  as  far  as  Scythia,  Baflria,  India, 
and  Jonia,  their  great  revenues  and  their  armies,  confifting  of  a  million 
of  men.    The  infcriptions  on  thefe  obelisks  were  probably  hieroglyphical; 
and  they  muft  have  been  final],  it  may  be  of  the  fize  of  the  obelisk  men- 
tion'd in  a  window  in  the  caftle  of  Cairo.    The  vale  where  thefe  grottos 
are,  may  be  about  one  hundred  yards  wide,  as  reprefented  in  the  thirtieth 
plate.    There  are  figns  of  about  eighteen  of  them,  as  mark'd  in  the  view  in 
this  plate ;  D  E  F  I.  and  O.  are  flopped  up :  To  the  reft,  if  I  made  no  miftake, 
the  plans  correfpond  in  the  thirty-firft  and  thirty- fecond  plates.  How- 
ever, it  is  to  be  remark'd  that  Diodorus  fays  feventeen  of  them  only  re- 
main'd till  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies;  and  I  found  the  entrances  to  about 
that  number,  moft  of  which  he  fays  were  deftroy'd  in  his  time,  and  now 
there  are  only  nine  that  can  be  enter'd  into.    The  hills  on  each  fide  are 
high  fteep  rocks,  and  the  whole  place  is  cover'd  with  rough  ftones  that 
feem  to  have  rolled  from  them ;  the  grottos  are  cut  into  the  rock  in  a  moft 
beautiful  manner  in  long  rooms  or  galleries  under  the  mountains,  which 
are  of  a  clofe  white  freeftone  that  cuts  like  chalk,  and  is  as  fmooth  as  the 
fined  ftucco  work.    The  galleries  arc  moftly  about  ten  feet  wide  and  high ; 
four  or  five  of  thefe  galleries,  one  within  another,  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet 
long,  and  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  high,  generally  lead  to  a  fpacious  room, 
in  which  is  feen  the  tomb  of  the  King,  with  his  figure  cut  in  relief  on  the 
lid,  as  I  faw  it  on  one    In  the  furthermoft  room  of  another,  the  picture 
of  the  King  is  painted  on  the  ftone  at  full  length  ;  both  the  fides  and  ceil- 
ings of  the  rooms  are  cut  with  hieroglyphics  of  birds  and  beafts,  and 
fome  of  them  painted,  being  as  frefh  as  if  they  were  but  juft  finifh'd,  tho' 
they  muft  be  above  two  thoufand  years  old.    The  fepulchre  A.  particu- 
larly is  moft  beautifully  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics  cut  into  the  ftone  and 
painted.  The  entrance,  which  is  adefcent,  is  cut  thro'  the  rock,  being  open 
at  top  for  thirteen  feet;  then  for  eight  feet  more  to  the  door,  the  ceiling 
is  an  inclined  plain,  as  the  defcent  under  it  ;  over  the  door  the  beetle  is 
cut  in  a  circle,  and  a  man  fitting  on  each  fide;  the  galleries  within  have 
hieroglyphics  cut  on  each  fide;  firft  in  a  fort  of  a  compartment  next  to 
the  ceiling  in  manner  of  a  frieze  ;  lower,  figures  are  cut  out  reprefent- 
ing  mummies  ;  below  thefe,  for  feven  feet  from  the  ground,  are  hierogly- 
phics all  down  the  fides,  divided  by  lines  into  different  columns;  in  the 
middle  of  the  ceiling  there  are  figures  of  men  for  about  three  feet  in 
breadth,  with  ftars  on  each  fide.    Among  the  hieroglyphics,  I  obferved 
many  goats  heads.    The  tomb  of  the  King,  (the  plan  of  which  may  be 
feen  in  the  thirty-firft  plate  A.)  is  of  one  Hone  ot  red  granite,  feven 

feet 


ON  EGYPT. 


feet  nine  inches  high,  eleven  feet  eight  inches  long,  and  above  fix  feet 
broad,  the  cover  being  made  as  reprefented  to  fhut  into  it:  On  it  is  cut 
the  figure  of  the  King  in  mezzo-relievo,  and  a  hieroglyphical  infcription, 
as  may  be  feen  in  the  plate  over  the  tomb,  which  probably  is  fome  ac- 
count of  the  Monarch.  This  room  is  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics  in  dif- 
ferent columns,  with  figures  of  men,  hawks  and  bulls.  In  the  laft  room 
are  two  infcriptions,  made  probably  by  fome  perfons  who  came  to  fee  the 
place  * ;  one  of  them  is  in  the  thirty-firft  plate.  In  the  feveral  fepulchres, 
the  parts  that  are  fhaded  are  niches,  commonly  about  four  feet  above  the 
ground  ;  the  large  ones  might  be  to  depolite  bodies  in,  and  the  final- 
ler  for  little  ftatues.  The  grotto  C.  towards  the  middle  part,  is  a  de- 
fcent,  and  the  feveral  ftories  of  hieroglyphics  are  cut  parallel  with  the 
ground  ;  the  ceiling  of  the  room  where  the  tomb  was  is  cut  arch  wife; 
round  the  pedeftal  of  the  tomb  which  feems  to  have  been  there,  the  room 
is  cut  down  three  feet  fix  inches  lower  than  in  the  other  parts,  in  a  rough 
manner ;  the  tomb  is  taken  away,  but  the  red  granite  top  remains  eleven 
feet  long,  and  fix  feet  and  a  half  broad.  In  the  furthermoft  room  is  a 
figure,  I  think  in  relief,  with  the  arms  acrofs  on  the  breaft;  over  it  is  a 
globe,  and  a  man  kneels  on  each  fide  of  the  apartment  H.  In  the  great 
room  there  is  a  ftatue  of  a  man  with  a  fceptre  in  his  hand,  and  on  the  ceiling 
is  a  large  figure  of  a  man  painted  at  top,  with  a  particular  fort  of  fcep- 
tre alfo  in  his  hand,  and  wings  hanging  down  lower  than  the  feet,  and 
covering  the  whole  body,  being  a  very  extraordinary  figure,  and  the  paint- 
ing exceeding  frefh.  At  the  entrance  on  each  fide  are  four  men  cut  into 
the  ftone  above  the  natural  fize,  having  heads  of  hawks  and  other  ani- 
mals; on  the  infide  a  tortoife,  and  a  man  with  a  goat's  head  are  cut 
within  a  circle  on  each  of  the  pilafters.  At  the  entrance  of  K.  a  large 
bull's  head  is  cut  in  relief,  and  by  a  hole  mark'd  k.  at  the  further  end  of 
it,  there  is  a  communication  with  L.  The  grotto  B.  is  cut  with  a  de- 
fcent  all  the  way  from  the  entrance.  Some  of  them,  particularly  that 
mark'd  M.  feem  never  to  have  been  finifh'd  ;  and  two  or  three  have  fo 
much  rough  ftone  in  them,  like  the  chipping  of  the  rock,  that  thofe  who 
enter,  cannot  walk  upright  in  them.  Having  view'd  thefe  extraordi- 
nary fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes  with  the  utmoft  pleafure,  by  the 
help  of  the  wax-lights  we  brought,  and  being  much  fatigued,  we  thought 
to  fit  down  and  take  fome  refrefhments  we  had  brought,  in  this  retired 
place;  but  unfortunately  we  had  forgot  to  bring  water:  The  Sheik  alfo 
was  in  hafte  to  go,  being  afraid,  as  I  imagined,  left  the  people  fhould 
have  opportunity  to  gather  together  if  we  ftaid  out  long.  From  Gournou 
to  this  place  there  is  a  very  difficult  foot  way  over  the  mountains,  by 
which  the  people  might  have  paid  us  an  unwelcome  vifit,  tho'  we  were 
under  the  protection  of  the  Sheik,  who  might  likewife  be  well  pleafed  to 
protract  the  time,  that  he  might  prolong  our  flay,  in  order  to  have  more 
of  our  money  for  his  horfes  and  people,  and  alfo  in  expectation  of  a 
greater  prefent.  Returning  from  this  place,  I  obferved  in  the  plain  to  the 
north,  many  entrances  into  the  rocks,  which  probably  were  of  the  nature 
of  the  grottos  I  obferved  on  each  fide  of  the  way  as  I  came. 


3  This  is  the  other  infcription  Januarius  pp  VI.    D I E I  miravi  locum  filium  Eliani  Varina  valetc 

omnes.  ^ 

The 


OBSERV ATI ONS 

The  Sheik  was  fo  civil  and  humane  as  to  ftay  and  eat  with  me,  which 
is  what  they  rarely  do.  The  next  day  I  went  into  two  very  extenfive 
apartments  cut  in  the  rock,  on  the  fouth  fide  of  thofe  hills  we  went  to 
the  day  before,  being  in  between  the  foot  of  the  hills,  at  the  place  mark'd 
G.  in  the  twenty-ninth  plate.  To  one  of  them  A.  in  the  thirty-fourth 
plate,  is  a  defcent  of  ten  fteps  to  an  area  cut  in  the  rock,  which  leads  to 
a  room  in  which  are  fquare  pillars  cut  out  of  the  rock  :  Beyond  that  there 
is  a  long  room  with  pillars  on  each  fide  in  like  manner;  all  the  apartments 
are  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics  ;  but  the  ftone  is  fcaled  in  fuch  a  manner, 
and  is  fo  black  in  fome  of  the  firft  apartments,  that  there  is  great  reafon 
to  think  the  place  has  been  damaged  by  fire.  Beyond  thefe  rooms,  the  apart- 
ments extend  to  the  right,  there  being  feveral  fteps  down  ;  one  part  leads 
to  a  gallery  cut  round  the  rock,  which  has  fome  apartments  on  one  fide ; 
and  in  this,  as  well  -a*  in  the  apartments  of  the  other  grotto  mark'd  B. 
are  holes  cut  perpendicularly  down  to  other  apartments  below,  where  I 
few  doors  and  openings,  and  where  probably  there  are  as  many  apart- 
ments as  above.  One  would  almoft  imagine  that  thefe  places  were  habi- 
tations for  the  living,  and  poflibly  might  be  cut  under  the  palaces  of  the 
Kings  of  Thebes,  if  they  were  not  the  very  palaces  themfelves,  to  retire 
to  when  they  pleafed,  from  their  tents  or  other  places  more  expofed  to  the 
wind  or  heat.  The  other  grotto  B.  is  cut  under  a  fmall  hill,  which  is 
between  E.  and  C.  near  the  appearance  of  a  grand  entrance  in  under  the 
mountains.  The  way  to  that  entrance  is  by  a  valley,  which  feems  to  have 
been  divided  into  four  parts  by  walls  or  mounds,  of  which  there  are  ftill 
remains :  That  which  is  molt  to  the  eaft  is  deep,  and  looks  like  a  quarry 
of  black  flint  ftone,  being  much  deeper  than  the  others.  I  thought  it  might 
have  been  a  relervoir  ot  the  Nile  water,  and  for  that  reafon  formerly 
paved  with  ftones,  in  order  to  make  it  hold  the  water.  The  other  three 
parts  go  towards  fome  remains  of  buildings,  as  reprefented  in  the  thirty- 
fifth  plate;  the  granite  door  A.  leads  to  the  building  B.  which  is  all  ruin'd, 
except  a  ftnall  part  of  the  front.  To  the  weft  is  a  room  C.  over  which 
there  is  a  well-turn'd  arch,  with  a  half  round  at  the  fpring  of  it ;  the  door 
at  the  north  end  has  likewife  a  half  round  on  each  fide  of  it,  and  is 
of  granite.  It  appears  to  have  been  uled  as  a  Chriflian  church,  and  the 
hieroglyphics  have  been  cover'd  over  with  plaifter,  which  are  in  fmall  co- 
lumns, exquifitely  well  cut ;  Chrift  with  a  glory  is  painted  on  the  plaifter. 
As  this  was  a  church,  it  is  probable  the  arch  over  this  building  is  a  Chri- 
flian work.  In  the  fmall  room  D.  to  the  fouth  are  many  bones,  which 
feem'd  to  have  been  burnt ;  and  if  there  had  not  been  linen  with  them, 
1  lhould  not  have  thought  they  had  been  embalm'd,  but  burnt  by  acci- 
dent. The  rock  at  the  mountain  has  been  made  perpendicular  by  art;  the 
people  faid  there  was  an  entrance  there  under  the  hill,  and  'tis  probable 
it  was  a  paffage  to  which  there  was  a  defcent,  and  that  all  has  been  fill'd 
up.  I  took  a  particular  view  of  the  large  temple,  a  little  way  to  the 
fouth  eaft,  for  fuch  it  feems  to  have  been ;  a  plan  of  it  is  in  the  fame 
plate.  At  all  the  fquare  pillars  E.  are  ftatues,  as  reprefented  at  K.  with 
the  heads  broke  off,  which  feem  to  have  had  on  them  the  long  cap,  that  is 
often  feen  in  the  hieroglyphics;  for  there  is  enough  remains  of  thofe  caps  on 
the  pillars  to  fhew  what  they  were.  Thefe  ftatues  have  the  lituus  in  one 
hand,  and  the  flagellum  or  whip  in  the  other,  as  commonly  feen  with  the 

ftatue 


3 


miv.  f>.M0. 


Plans  of  two  Subterraneous  Grottos  at  Thebes. 


SSST-LJ-JOI 


_  J>_ZJJTS  ^ti^Tevrplesari,/  y^/wr  Suias  <itThA  es.my 


ON  EGYPT. 


IOI 


ftatue  cf  Ofiris.    There  are  ruins  of  a  pyramidal  gate  at  G.  to  the  fouth 
of  this  building,  and  of  a  very  large  colofial  ftatue;  it  is  broke  off  about  the 
middle  of  the  trunk,  the  head  is  fix  feet  broad  ;  from  the  tot)  of  the  head 
to  the  bottom  of  the  neck,  it  meafures  eleven  feet,  and  fo  it  does  from 
the  bottom  cf  the  neck  to  the  navel;  it  is  twenty-one  feet  broad  at  the 
fhouldcrs ;  the  ear  is  three  feet  long,  and  one  foot  four  inches  broad ;  and  the 
foot  is  four  feet  eight  inches  broad.     In  the  fecond  court,  at  H  H,  are 
remains  of  two  ftatues  of  black  granite;  that  to  the  weft,  which  is  fit- 
ting, meafured  from  the  hand  to  the  elbow  five  feet,  thence  to  the  fhoul- 
der  four  feet;  the  head  is  three  feet  and  a  half  long,  and  the  ear  is  one 
foot  in  length.      The  ftatue  to  the  eaft  is  three  feet  five  inches  long 
in  the  foot ;  at  a  diftance  from  it  is  the  head  with  the  cap  ;  it  is  three  feet 
fix  inches  long,  and  behind  it  is  the  ornament  of  the  dome  leaf.  Some 
perfons  have  thought  that  one  of  thefe  is  the  ftatue  of  Memnon.  Many 
other  pillars  of  this  building  are  deftroy'd,  as  reprefented  in  the  plan;  but 
from  the  ruins  it  appears  to  have  been  a  very  magnificent  building  in  this 
way.    From  the  temple  I  went  to  the  ftatues  which  I  fhall  call  the  coloffal 
ftatues  of  Memnon;  they  are  towards  Medinet-Habou.    The  Sheik  hur- Statues  ot 
ried  me  from  this  place,  faying  he  was  near  his  enemy ;  lb  I  fet  out  early  Memo°n' 
the  next  morning,  and  fpent  above  half  a  day  at  thefe  ftatues :  They  are 
of  a  very  particular  fort  of  porous  hard  granite,  fuch  as  I  never  faw  be- 
fore; it  moft  refembles  the  eagle  ftone.    The  fl-aiuc  is  icpiefenred  in  the 
thirty-fixtli  and  thirty-fcvcnch  plates ;  they  look  to  the  fouth  fouth  eaft, 
and  are  on  a  pedeftal  or  plinth  entirely  plain.    That  to  the  north  is  thirty 
feet  long,  and  feventeen  broad,  the  pedeftal  of  the  other  is  thirty-three 
feet  long,  and  nineteen  feet  wide,  and  they  are  about  thirty  feet  apart : 
That  to  the  fouth  is  of  one  ftone.  The  ftatue  to  the  north  has  been  broken 
off  at  the  middle,  above  the  arms,  that  lie  on  the  hams;  and  it  has  been 
built  up  with  five  tier  of  ftones,-  one  to  the  top  of  the  clinch  of  the  el- 
bow, another  almoft  half  way  up  the  arm,  one  to  the  armpits,  the  fourth 
to  the  neck,  and  the  fifth  the  head  and  neck,  of  one  ftone.    The  other 
tiers  have  two  ftones  in  front,  except  that  the  middle  tier  has  three,  and 
there  are  two  ftones  in  the  thicknefs  of  the  ftatue  :  The  feet  are  broken 
a  quarter  off  from  the  toes;  but  as  I  did  not  take  a  particular  draught  of 
the  parts  of  the  ftatue  that  are  maim'd,  I  thought  it  better  to  give  it  en- 
tire from  the  drawing  and  obfervations  I  did  make.    I  found  the  height 
from  the  bottom  of  the  foot  to  the  top  of  the  knee,  to  be  about  nineteen 
feet  ,•  from  the  bottom  of  the  foot  to  the  ankle,  two  feet  fix  inches ;  to 
the  top  of  the  inftep,  four  feet;  the  foot  is  five  feet  broad,  and  the  leg  is 
four  feet  deep ;  the  ornament  behind  the  head  feem'd  to  be  the  dome  leaf, 
as  I  have  it  on  a  ftatue  of  Harpocrates.    At  the  fide  of  the  legs,  as  repre- 
fented, are  two  reliefs,  and  one  between  the  legs,  of  the  natural  height, 
but  much  defaced  :  Between  the  former  and  the  great  ftatue,  are  hierogly- 
phics.   The  pedeflal  of  the  imperfect  ftatue  is  crac'k'd  acrofs,  at  the  di- 
ftance of  about  ten  feet  from  the  back  part ;  there  are  alfo  fome  flaws  and 
cracks  in  the  other  ftatue,  but  it  is  of  one  ftone,  which  I  dare  politively 
affirm,  and  in  which  I  could  not  be  miftaken,  having  been  twice  at 
|   the  ftatues.    1  fpent  half  a  day  there,  and  took  down  in  my  notes  an  ac- 
count of  every  ftone,  of  which  the  upper  part  of  the  other  is  built.    On  the 
Vol.  I.  D  d  pedeftal 


O  B  S  E  R  V  A  T  IONS 

pedeftal  of  the  imperfect  ftatue  is  a  Greek  epigram,  which  may  be  feen 
in  the  fifty-fifth  plate  ;  and  on  the  infteps  and  legs,  for  about  eight  feet 
high,  are  feveral  infcriptions  in  Greek  and  Latin,  fome  being  epigrams  in 
honour  of  Memnon,  others,  the  greater  part,  teftimonies  of  thofe  who 
heard  his  found,  and  fome  alfo  in  unknown  characters;  all  the  infcriptions 
are  ill  cut,  and  in  bad  language,  both  on  account  of  the  hardnefs  of  the 
ftone  and  the  ignorance  of  the  people,  who  probably  made  money  by 
cutting  thefe  infcriptions  for  thofe  that  came  to  hear  the  found.  I  copied 
them  with  all  the  exaftnefs  I  poffibly  could,  tho'  many  of  them  were  very 
difficult  to  be  underftood,  and  they  are  engraved  in  the  thirty-eighth  and 
thirty-ninth  plates ;  for  I  was  not  entirely  undifturbed  whilft  I  was  doing 
it ;  but  after  I  had  been  at  this  work  fome  time,  the  Arabs  came  about  me, 
and  faid,  they  would  not  permit  me  to  copy  every  thing  in  that  manner, 
and  fome  of  them  attempted  to  pull  me  away ;  but  I  continued  on  copying 
them  out,  till  I  had  finifhed  them  all.  The  common  people  have  the  weak- 
nefs  to  imagine  that  infcriptions  difcover  treafures. 

Going  on  from  thefe  to  the  north  north  weft,  at  a  hundred  paces  diftance 
in  a  line  from  the  broken  ftatue,  are  the  very  imperfect  ruins  of  another 
ftatue  lying  on  the  ground,  and  one  hundred  paces  farther,  fuch  another, 
two  hundred  paces  from  that,  is  another  ftatue,  of  which  there  are  greater 
remains,  being  broken  and  fallen  down,  the  back  part  with  hieroglyphics 
on  it  lies  uppermoft,  and  is  thirty  feet  fix  inches  long;  it  is  of  a  mixture 
of  white  and  brown  marble.  Further  on  a  litdc  to  the  right,  among  the 
trees,  is  a  ftatue  almoft  intire,  being  a  yellow  granite,  in  very  fmall 
grains,  with  fome  little  flints  in  it;  the  ftatue  is  twelve  feet  long,  from 
the  head  to  the  fork,  and  the  fhoulders  were  four  feet  broad  above  the 
ground,  a  fmall  part  being  funk  into  the  earth.  Going  on  to  the  hills,  I 
obferved  an  area  cut  out  of  the  rock,  and  many  ftones  lying  about  it,  with 
hieroglyphics  on  them  ;  this  feems  to  have  been  a  part  of  the  grand  tem- 
ple to  which  thefe  ftatues  lead,  as  a  fort  of  avenue;  and  I  fuppofe  there 
were  other  ftatues,  in  a  line  from  the  great  ones.  About  half  a  mile 
from  this  area,  are  the  remains  of  Medinet-Habou,  to  which  probably  the 
buildings  of  this  temple  extended;  and  all  this  together,  I  take  to  be  the 
Memnoni-  antient  Memnonium ;  the  ruins  of  the  other  temple  on  this  fide,  being  a 
mile  to  the  eaft,  and  feem  to  have  no  relation  to  thefe :  The  name  alfo 
of  Medinet-Habou  is  a  confirmation  that  this  was  the  Memnonium,  for 
in  the  itinerary  it  is  called  Papa,  a  word  almoft  univerfally  ufed  for  fa- 
ther, fo  that  Medinet-Habou  feems  to  fignify  the  City  of  the  Father,  and, 
as  I  obferved  elfewhere,  Abydus  may  have  the  fame  derivation,  where 
there  was  a  famous  temple  or  palace  of  Memnon. 

I  have  already  remarked,  that  in  the  temple  to  the  eaft  there  are  re- 
mains of  two  ftatues  of  black  granite,  one  has  been  thought,  by  fome, 
to  be  the  famous  ftatue  of  Memnon,  which  at  the  firft  or  fecond  hour, 
they  pretend,  uttered  a  found,  occafioned,  as  fome  would  have  it,  by 
the  rays  of  the  lun  ftriking  on  it ;  others  are  of  opinion,  that  it  was  the 
ftatue  I  have  already  defcribed,  with  the  infcriptions  on  it;  in  order  to 
judge  of  which,  it  may  be  proper  to  confider  what  the  antient  authors 
fay  on  this  fubjed,  and  the  arguments  on  each  fide. 

Strabo 


I02 


ON  EGYPT. 


Strabo  b  fpeaking  of  Thebes,  fays,  that  there  were  in  his  time  feveral 
villages  on  the  rite  of  it,  part  of  them  on  that  fide  which  was  in  Arabia, 
where  the  city  then  was,  part  on  the  other  fide,  where  the  Memnonium 
was.  Here  were  two  coloflal  ftatues  of  one  ftone,  near  one  another,  one 
being  entire ;  the  upper  part  of  the  other  was  fallen  down,  from  the  feat, 
as  it  was  faid,  occafioned  by  an  earthquake.  It  was  thought,  that 
once  a  day  a  found  was  heard,  as  of  a  great  blow,  from  that  part  which 
remained  on  the  feat  and  bafe.  When  he  was  there,  with  JElius  Gallus 
and  others,  he  heard  the  found;  and  whether  it  came  from  the  bafe,  or 
the  ftatue,  or  the  people  about  it,  he  could  not  fay  •  the  caufe  not  ap- 
pearing, he  would  rather  believe  any  thing,  than  that  a  found  fhould  be 
occafioned  by  any  particular  manner  in  which  the  ftone  is  compofed. 

Paufanias  c  fays,  that  Cambyfes  broke  it,  and  that  then  the  upper  part, 
from  the  middle,  was  feen  lying  negleded  on  the  ground ;  the  other  part, 
every  day  at  fun  rifing,  uttered  a  found  like  the  breaking  of  a  firing  of 
a  harp  when  it  was  wound  up d.  Philoftratus  gives  this  account:  He  fays, 
the  place  where  the  temple  was  built,  was  much  like  an  antient  forum, 
of  which  fort  of  forum  there  are  remains  in  the  moft  antient  cities,  with 
fragments  of  their  columns,  and  the  foundations  of  their  walls:  More- 
over, they  fay,  that  ftatues  of  Mercury  are  feen  there,  partly  deftroyed  by 
time,  and  partly  by  force.  But  the  ftatue  of  Memnon,  reprefenting  a 
youth,  is  turned  towards  the  fun  ;  it  is  of  black  ftone,  both  the  feet  of 
it  are  fet  even  together,  according  to  the  manner  of  making  ftatues  *  to 
the  time  of  Dsedalus  ,*  the  hands  reft  on  the  thighs,  as  if  in  a  pofture  to 
get  up  ;  the  manner  and  look  of  the  eyes  and  mouth  appear  like  a  perfon 
ipeaking;  but  this  they  lefs  wondered  at,  as  they  were  not  yet  acquainted 
with  the  virtue  of  this  ftatue.  But  when  the  rays  of  the  fun  came  on  the 
ftatue,  which  was  about  fun  rifing,  they  related  what  was  very  wonderful, 
they  fay  the  ftatue  fpoke  as  foon  as  ever  the  rays  of  the  fun  came  to 
its  mouth.  And  Pliny,  fpeaking  of  Bafaltes,  (which,  he  fays,  was  of  the 
colour  and  hardnefs  of  iron)  reckons  among  ftatues  of  this  ftone,  that 
which  was  thought  to  be  the  ftatue  of  Memnon  at  Thebes,  in  the  temple 
of  Serapis,  which,  they  fay,  made  a  noife  every  day  about  fun  rifing,  when 
the  rays  of  the  fun  came  on  it  e.    Tzetzes  calls  it  the  column  that  uttered 


T«v3-«  St  Svow  xoAoiro-wv  qvIuv  ^covo  Ai'9-wv  otAAijAflii  srAij- 
elciVy  a  $j  rw^slflw,  iS  J'  STtgs  id  oLvu  id  Iwid  t5 

c?  on  ajr«|  x«(T  ipifpv  sWrp,  4,0'$©J'  wf  «v  Txhv,yri<; 
6v  fityocMf,  SttliAeiTou  ~xm.  iS  fttvovlgy  hi  ia 

t;j  garret  [ftgiSi  Aid  10  eccfsjAou  Is  euilaty  itdv 

ftaAAov  Wi^'/J\ou.  srjr£v«u,  ij  is  cv.  iuv  A/Gam  vice  itloiy~ 

ptvm  ostnre^nrEdS-oi  t  yxov-  Strabo  xviii.  p.  816. 

cvoy,et^nciv  01  aroAAo'i  6  K«/*j3uV<ff  JjIxoyEj  ^  vvv 

07toscv  on  xf(T}aA?K  If  jUSiro'j  stasia,  vtv  aVcf p*J/»tvoi',  to  jj 
Aoiffov  xotliyldi  ie  >£,  dvd  isdsm  yy-tgyv  dvi<^ail{§r  r'Ai's 
/3o«,  Kf  t  fyov  fAuMsot  eindeei  ik  xiSet^f  >;  Avg^f 

f cty&fKi  ^of-Jf.  Paufanias  i.  c.  42. 

d  To  3  x°>£'ov  ?  ISfuldw,  Qa.e\  ft)Ju  wgOQ-tar/Avcu 
dya°£>  ct^aiec^  oToli  tav  dyogwv  bv  nroh«ri  srojs  ow.rfitt- 

k,  Saitouf  jij  (pAi«j.  Efjuwv  T6  dyobh.y,dloi  rd  $j  \sm 
p£«f<£v  Ae$9o^CT«,  id  jj  lotij  ^fo'vi*'  is  jj  ctyot,h^»  te- 
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/»sAsev©J.  5vf*^tQttKiv«i  3  tw  srs'de  w'^wepw       t  dyah- 


fJLCtWJTMXV    T    S7rJ  AoClSctKil,   Kj    TOtf    X"€^S  « 

o'^0 t  &#xov"  x«6^o9-«j  ya^  su  t»  virotvka- 

t&Otl.  10  -J  %VfA#  T«T0,    «,  T  T  0(f>S#A|UWV  DflUU,  !^  OZOSH, 

iS  slpoiltQr  dq  <pdty%x[A,ivx  wJistri"  x,  t  $p  aAAov  ^§0- 
vov  ?t7o»  $av{*d<rau  <px<riV  visas  y%  ht%y&  Ipeuvt&af 
argoe-|3aA8V))(  3  -n  otyothfACC  t?  ajtlTngy-,  t«7J  j  y/y- 
uscS-aii  iia£*  y'Ai'a  IxraAotf,  jwi}  xaiacj/^v  id  Savpct,' 
$My%a<&ott  «jj<j  ^  fij^aXf^/**  ^  axfru©'  iAflao-iff  «^7aJ 

ett)  fo'jua.  Philoftratus  De  vita  Apollonii  Tyanei, 
t  vi.  c.  3. 

*  So  tfl-ihere  feems  to  mean,  and,  not  as  fome 
have  interpreted  it,  after  the  time  of  Dsedahis, 
who  may  be  prefumed  to  have  brought  in  the 
manner  of  fetting  one  foot  before  another  in  fta- 
tuary. 

c  Invenit  eadem  iEgyptus  in  Ethiopia,  quern 
vocant  bafaltem,  ferrei  colons  atque  duriti^  

Non  abfimilis  illi  narratur  in  Thebis  delubro 
Serapis,  ut  putant,  Memnonis  ftatua  dicatus; 
quern  quotidiano  folis  ortu  contactum  radiis  cre- 
pare  dicunt.    Plin,  Nat.  Hift.  I.  xxiv.  c.  7. 


i 


Ill'' 


104  OBSERVATIONS 

a  found  when  it  was  day,  and  fays  it  was  of  a  mixed  red  or  fpotted  Rone. 
For  fome  account  of  the  hiftory  of  Memnon,  and  of  the  arguments  that 
are  ufed  on  both  fides,  in  relation  to  this  ftatue,  fee  below  f.    We  went 

in 


f  Memnon  was,  by  the  account  of  all  authors, 
the  fori  of  Tithonus  and  Aurora,  which  is  men- 
tion'd  in  the  eighteenth  infeription  on  the  right 
leg  of  the  ftatue  of  Memnon,  as  may  be  feen  in  the 
thirty-fixth  plate,  in  thefe  words,  Tldis  'Has  ti  >^ 
T«Sw'voio.  Tithonus  was  fon  of  Laomedon  King  of 
Troy,  and  brother  of  Priamus ;  fo  that  he  was  pro- 
bably born  about  the  year  two  thoufand  fix  hundred 
and  eighty  of  the  world.  As  he  went  into  Afia, 
towards  the  eaft,  and  carried  his  arms  as  far  as 
Ethiopia,  this,  according  to  Diodorus,  gave  rife 
to  the  fable  of  his  marriage  with  Aurora,  and 
that  he  had  Memnon  by  her ;  and  it  is  probable 
he  might  really  marry  fome  eaftern  princefs,  %y 
whom  he  might  have  Memnon  born,  when  he 
was  in  Ethiopia.  Antient  authors  indeed  differ 
about  the  place  of  Memnon's  birth ;  Paufanias 
fays  that  he  did  not  come  from  Ethiopia,  but 
from  Sufa  in  Perfia.  Suidas  relates  that  he  com- 
manded the  Ethiopians,  but  was  born  near  Sufa, 
on  the  river  Choafpes  ;  and  yet  Paufanias  fays 
that  the  Thebans  pretended  he  was  an  Egyptian  ; 
but  that  others  affirmed  he  was  born  in  Ethiopia, 
and  extended  his  conquefts  as  far  as  Sufa.  Where  - 
ever  he  was  born,  he  was  certainly  at  Sufa  •,  and 
Dionyfius  in  his  Periegefis,  calls  it  the  City  of 
Memncn  (Ms/»vovHov«fu  ;)  but  it  is  moft  probable 
that  he  was  born  in  Ethiopia,  becaufe  Philoftra- 
tus  fpeaks  of  him,  as  having  a  black  complexion  ; 
and  Virgil  has  theexprcflion  of  "  nigri  Memnonis 
*'  arma."  Philoftratus  fays  that  he  reigned  in  Ethi- 
opia for  five  generations  ;  but  how  many  years  that 
was,  may  be  difficult  to  determine.  It  is  proba- 
ble likewife,  that  he  reign'd  in  Egypt,  as  fuch 
great  honours  were  paid  to  him,  parricularly  at 
Thebes ;  and  his  palace  is  mentioned  at  Abydus. 
He  went  to  the  fiege  of  Troy,  to  afiift  Priamus, 
his  uncle,  where  he  was  kill'd  by  Achilles,  as 
mentioned  by  fevcral  authors,  and  is  confirmed 
by  thefe  words  of  the  epigram,  cut  on  the  bafe 
of  the  ftatue  of  Memnon  ;  though  it  may  be 
difficult  to  make  out  the  entire  fenfe  of  them,  as 
it  may  be  feen  in  the  thirty-fifth  plate: 

Which  words  muff  refer  to  his  being  killed  by 
Achilles,  and  plainly  fhew  the  falfhood  of  what 
is  affirmed  by  an  author  quoted  by  Philoftratus, 
that  Memnon  was  not  at  Troy,  but  reigned  in 
Ethiopia.  And  yet  Philoftratus  in  another  place 
mentions,  that  he  was  killed  in  the  Trojan  war  by 
Achilles.  DicTys  Cretenfis  fays,  that  Himera, 
the  fiftcr  of  Memnon,  carried  his  afties  to  his 
country  Palhochen,  in  Phoenicia.  Simonides, 
quoted  by  Strabo,  affirms,  that  he  was  buried  a- 
bout  Paltus  in  Syria,  on  the  river  Bada,  Pal t us 
being  between  Tripoli  and  Laodicea.  Jofephus 
likewife  fpeaks  of  the  monument  of  Mem- 
non, at  the  lake  Cendovia,  near  the  river  Be- 
lusj  and  it  is  certain,  that  the  river  Belus  does 
rife  out  of  a  fmall  lake:  Poffibly,  the  remains 
of  Memnon  might  be  brought  fomewhere  to 
thefe  parts-,  and  as  to  the  different  places  that  are 
mentioned,  that  might  be  occafioned  by  hono- 
rary monuments  erected  to  him. 


Some  are  of  opinion  that  this  is  not  the  ftatue 
of  Memnon ;  but  that  it  was  a  fmall  ftatue  in 
the  temple,  a  mile  to  the  north,  and  look  on  it 
as  a  proof  that  that  ftatue  is  of  black  marble ; 
that  it  is  in  a  building  they  think  anfwers  to  the 
account  of  Philoftratus ;  that  this  temple  was  like 
the  antient  forum,  and  they  fuppofe  the  ftatues 
mentioned  in  it,  to  be  the  Mercurial  ftatues 
he  fpeaks  of ;  that  they  would  have  a  greater  re- 
fpect  for  the  ftatue  of  Memnon,  than  to  cut  in- 
fcriptions  on  it;  and  moreover,  that  Juvenal  in 
his  time  mentions  it  as  a  ftatue,  half  of  which 
was  broke  off,  and  that  it  is  not  probable  that 
it  fhould  have  been  built  up  after  his  time  ;  and 
that  the  teftimony  of  Tzetzes,  not  a  very  an- 
tient writer,  is  of  no  great  weight,  who  fays  it  is 
of  a  mixed  red  colour ;  and  it  weakens  his  authori- 
ty, as  he  calls  it  a  pillar,  inftead  of  a  ftatue. 

Thofe  who  are  of  opinion  that  the  ftatue 
with  the  inferiptions  on  it,  and  an  epigram  in  the 
front  of  the  pedeftal,  was  the  ftatue  of  Memnon, 
fay,  that  they  cannot  be  inform'd  of  any  ftatue 
of  Bafaltes  in  this  place,  as  Pliny  affirms  it  to 
be,  who  was  often  mifinform'd  as  to  the  facls  he 
relates  ;  that  the  outfide  of  thefe  ftatues  is  blackifh, 
as  may  be  feen  by  pieces  that  have  been  brought 
away  -,  that  where  it  is  broke,  it  is  of  a  fpotted 
mixed  red  colour,  as  Tzetzes  mentions,  which 
may  reconcile  the  different  accounts  of  authors, 
fome  mentioning  it  as  a  black  marble  ftatue,  and 
one  of  a  red  ftone -,  that  the  temple  where  the 
others  ftood,  feems  to  have  been  covered,  being 
divided  into  feveral  apartments,  and  probably 
this  very  part  was  covered,  there  being  a  row  of 
pillars  behind  thefe  ftatues,  and  the  fquare  pil- 
lars have  been  reprefenred  in  a  drawing,  as  co- 
vered ;  fo  that  thefe  two  ftatues  feem  to  have 
been  under  cover ;  that  though  the  walls  do  not 
remain  on  each  fide,  yet  probably  there  were 
walls,  as  the  building  is  divided  into  different  a- 
partments,  fo  that  if  the  ftatue  ftood  towards  the 
entrance  of  the  temple,  it  faced  to  the  fouth,  and 
not  to  the  rifmg  fun  ;  that  the  other  great  ftatues 
ftand  facing  to  the  fouth  fouth  eaft,  as  was  found 
by  a  compafs  ;  that  if  the  two  great  cobftal  fta- 
tues made  a  part  of  the  avenue  to  the  temple, 
and  were  within  the  diftrict  of  it ;  they  think  that 
it  may  account  for  its  being  faid  that  they  were 
in  the  temple,  as  ibme  very  antient  temples  con- 
filled  only  of  an  open  enclofure,  thefe  ftatues 
feeming  to  anfwer  the  (phinxes  mentioned  by 
Strabo,  in  the  dromos  of  the  temple;  all  thefe 
parts  being  called  (ii  ie^d*)  the  temple,  as  may  be 
feen  in  Strabo's  Defcription  of  the  Egyptian  tem- 
ples. They  add,  moreover,  that  the  temple 
thefe  ftatues  belongM  to,  might  be  built  like  the 
antient  forum,  and  that  there  is  no  determinate 
figure  or  circumftance  mentioned  in  the  forum, 
to  prove  that  this  temple  was  in  that  form  ;  all 
that  is  mentioned  of  them  is,  that  there  were 
feen  fragments  of  pillars,  and  fome  traces  of  the 
walls  of  them.  As  to  the  Mercurial  ftatues  that 
were  in  the  temple,  if  we  fuppofe  that  they  were 
the  ftatues  of  Mercury,  it  is  obferved  that  it  is 
not  well  known  what  the  emblems  of  the  ftatues 

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ON  EGYPT. 

in  between  the  hills  to  the  north  eaft,  and  came  to  the  temple  L,  in  the 
thirty-fifth  plate,  which  had  been  a  convent:  There  are  no  hieroglyphics 
on  the  outfide;  the  cornices  over  the  doors  are  fluted,  and  adorned  with 
the  winged  globe ;  the  capitals  of  the  pillars  are  much  of  the  fame  fort  as 
thofe  of  Affouan,  in  the  plate  of  capitals.  After  I  had  viewed  all  thefe 
things,  I  returned  to  the  river. 

The  people  had  come  rudely  to  the  boat  when  I  was  abfent,  and  had 
faid  that  they  would  fee  whether  this  ftranger  would  dare  come  out  an- 
other day,  having  taken  great  umbrage  at  my  copying  the  inferiptions ; 
and  they  had  dropt  fome  cxpreflions  as  if  they  would  alTault  the  boat  by 


10: 


of  the  Egyptian  Mercury  were.  Anubis  Teems 
to  be  their  Mercury ;  and  poffibly  thofe  figures 
that  are  reprefented  with  fomething  in  each  of 
their  hands  that  hangs  down,  and  one  foot  before 
another,  as  in  a  pofture  to  glide  fwiftly  along, 

:  and  execute  the  commands  of  the  Deity,  may  be 
the  emblems  of  the  mefTenger  of  Jove  •,  but 
thefe  ftatues  have  in  their  hands  the  Htuus  and 
whip,  the  common  emblems  of  Ofiris,  and  it  may 
be  of  Ifis  alfo.    But  if  by  Mercurial  ftatues  are 

'  meant  ftatues  of  a  certain  form,  fuch  as  were 
commonly  placed  to  direct  the  roads  and  to  fhew 
the  bounds,   which  originally  might  be  ftatues 

■  of  Mercury  in  a  certain  fhape,  fiich  as  we  call 
Terms,  and  feem  to  have  their  rife  from  the  fta- 

i  tues  rcprefented  as  bound  round  like  mummies ; 
i  thefe  are  very  common  in  Egypt,  and  probably 
I  few  temples  were  without  diem  -,  and  fuch  ftatues 
i  there  might  be  in  the  temple,  to  which  thefe  two 
j  great  ftatues  led.  As  to  the  cutting  inferiptions  on 
i  ihe  ftatue,  it  is  faid,  that  it  is  probable  they  thought 
i  they  could  not  do  a  greater  honour  to  the  ftatue, 
i  than  to  cut  on  it  the  teftimonies  of  fo  many  perfons 
that  heard  the  found,  fo  many  epigrams  in  honour 
of  the  ftatue,  and  one  particularly  in  the  front  of 
the  pedeftal,  all  which  would  make  any  one  con- 
clude, that  this  ftatue  was  fomething  more  than 
i  ordinary.  Nor  is  it  probable  that  they  fhould  cut 
thefe  teftimonies  on  a  ftatue  near  a  mile  from 
i  that  which  uttered  the  found.;  it  is  more  rational 
i  to  think  they  would  have  cut  them  on  the  walls 
i  or  pillars  near  that  ftatue,  if  not.  on  the  ftatue 
;  itfelf :  And  whoever  this  great  ftatue  rcprefented, 
it  is  probable  it  wa3  a  perfon  or  Deity  as  much 
to  be  regarded  as  Memnon,  to  whom  fuch  a  vaft 
figure  of  one  ftone  was  erected,  the  largeft,  it 
may  be,  in  Egypr,  to  whom  it  would  be  a  much 
greater  difhonour  to  cut  thefe  inferiptions  on  his 

■  ftatue  that  were  in  honour  of  another,  who  was  a 
•King  of  Egypt,  though  we  fuppofe  he  was  deified, 

As  to  what  Juvenal  mentions, 

Dimidio  magics  refonant  ubi  Memnone  chords. 

Satyr,  xv. 

no  more  can  be  implied  than  that  the  found 
came  from  the  half  of  the  ftatue  that  remained. 
Though  the  teftimony  of  a  poet  is  of  no  great 
weight,  yet  it  mult  be  obferved,  that  it  was  the 
half  that  remained  of  the  ftatue  that  uttered  the 
found  ;  that  whenever  it  was  repaired,  the  ftones 
laid  on  it  were"  not  to  be  confidered  as  a  part  of 
the  miraculous  ftatue,  as  they  pretended  it  to  be, 
but  only  what  was  left  of  the  antient  ftatue  that 
made  a  noife  about  fun  rife  ;  not  but  that  the 
ftatue  might  be  as  well  repaired  after  Juvenal's 

Vol.  I. 


time  as  before  it,  and  if  it  was  repaired  before 
his  time,  Juvenal  might  be  ignorant  of  it  when 
he  writ  that  Satyr :  And  in  cafe  it  was  then  re- 
paired, and  that  he  knew  it,  yet  it  might  itill  be 
laid,  that  the  half  of  the  ftatue  uttered  the  found. 
It  may  aifo  have  fome  weight,  that  there  is  a  tra- 
dition among  the  people,  that  this  is  the  ftatue 
that  made  the  noife.  They  have  aifo  the  cir- 
cumftance  of  the  time,  and  if  they  arc  afked  if 
it  founds  now,  they  anlwer  it  does;  but  are  fo 
abfurd  as  to  fay,  they  know  nobody  that  ever 
heard  it. 

Thefe  ftatues  being  alfo  towards  Medinet-Habou, 
doubtlefs  the  antient  Papa,  as  has  been  obferved, 
may  be  of  fome  weight. 

Sicard  alfo  mentions  thefe  two  ftatues,  as  thofe 
of  which  Strabo  has  faid  fo  much  ;  and  yet,  as  if 
he  had  not  well  confidered  that  author,  (peaks  of 
a  third  ftatue  as  the  ftatue  of  Memnon,  that 
made  a  noife  at  fun  rifing. 

"  Trois  ftatues  coloffales,  les  deux  premieres, 
"  dont  a  tant  parle  Strabon,  font  remplie  d'une 
"  vingtaine  d'inferiptions,  foit  Grecques  foit  La- 
M  tines  ;  la  troifieme  eft  la  ftatue  du  Roy  Memnon, 
"  que,  felon  la  tradition  des  antiens  Egyptiens, 
"  rendoitun  fonau  leverdu  foleil."  Vol.  vii.  ch.7- 

They  mention  alfo  one  argument  more,  which 
they  think  has  not  a  little  weight,  and  this  is 
founded  on  the  obfervation  of  Paufanias  ;  that 
the  Thebans  denied  this  was  the  ftatue  of  Mem- 
non, though  the  opinion  of  every  body  elfe, 
(as  appears  by  thefe  inferiptions,  and  feveral  hi- 
ftorians)  fecms  to  have  been,  that  it  was  his  ftatue; 
but  the  Thebans  faid  it  was  the  ftatue  of  Phame- 
nophes,  an  inhabitant  of  that  country:  And 
what  is  remarkable,  Vanfleb  gives  an  account 
which  he  had  from  father  Portais ;  that  at  Habou 
are  two  ftatues  to  be  feen  a  great  way  off,  one 
being  of  a  man,  the  latter  of  a  woman,  the  former 
is  allied  Sciama,  the  other  Famaj  fo  that  the  re- 
mains of  the  antient  name  feem  to  be  plainly 
retained. 

Paufanias's  words  are  thefe,  'AaAojjS  c'w  M^i/ov* 

Paulanias,  1.  i.  c.  42. 

And  Vanfleb  exprefies  himfelf  in  the  following 
manner  :  "  A  une  ljeue  deca  il  y  a  line  ancienne 
f*  ville  appellee  Habu,  ou  1'on  vokaufli  plulieurs 
11  belles  curiofitees,  &  entre  autres  des  momies. 
"  On  y  decouvre  de  fort  loin  deux  ftatues,  Tune 
"  d'un  homme,  &c  l'aurre  d'une  femme  ;  les  gens 
M  du  pais  appellent  celle-la  Sciama  &  celle-ci 
"  Fama  :  elles  paroiffent  etre  pour  le  moins  aufli 
"  grandes  que  1'  Abulhon  ou  Ie  fphinx,  qui  etc 
M  vis-a-v-s  du  Cayre."    Vanfleb,  p.  410. 

E  e  night, 


106  OBSERVATIONS 

night,  if  I  ftaid,  which,  without  doubt  they  faid,  that  they  might  make 
me  go  away,  for  they  feemed  defirous  that  I  mould  leave  the  place;  as 
ftrongly  poffeffed  with  a  notion  of  a  power  that  Europeans  have  of  find- 
ing treafures,  and  conveying  them  away  by  magic  art ;  they  might  alfo 
be  envious  of  the  Sheik,  imagining  that  I  made  him  great  prefents.  I 
talked,  notvvithftanding,  of  going  abroad  the  next  day,  being  defirous,  if 
poflible,  to  fee  the  temple  of  Medinet-Habou,  which  the  Sheik's  fon 
feem'd  to  promife  me ;  but  I  found  thefe  two  governors  of  the  neighbour- 
ing villages  were  not  friends,  and  when  the  Sheik  came  to  the  boat,  we 
inform' d  him  of  what  had  paffed ;  he  faid  I  had  feen  every  thing  very  well, 
and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout ;  and  then  he  advifed  me  to 
depart,  and  to  go  on  as  faft  as  we  could  all  night.  This  place  I  faw  in 
my  return. 

Luxerein.  When  I  had  feen  Carnack,  I  went  up  the  river,  a  fmall  league  to  Luxe- 
rein,  or  Lacfor  on  the  feventeenth  of  January,  being  very  early  in  the 
morning.  I  carried  a  letter  and  a  prefent  to  the  Sheik ;  and  the  Sheik's 
fon  of  Carnack  came  to  me  here,  and  very  civilly  provided  a  dinner, 
and  ftaid  with  me  all  day.  I  view'd  the  remains  of  the  large  and  mag- 
nificent temple  there,  which  without  doubt  was  a  part  of  the  antient 
Thebes  on  the  eaft  fide  of  the  river.  That  grand  building  anfwers  very 
well  to  the  particular  defcription  Diodorus  gives  of  the  fepulchre  of  Ofy- 
manduas,  which,  he  fays,  was  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  circumference  j  a 
plan  of  it  may  be  feen  in  the  fortieth  plate. 

Firft  he  fays  there  was  a  gateway  1  two  hundred  feet  long,  exaftly  an- 
fwering  to  the  meafure  of  the  pyramidal  gate  G.  it  was  fixty-two  feet  and 
a  half  high.  From  the  upper  part  of  two  ftatues  B.  above  this  ground,  re- 
prefented  in  the  forty-firft  plate,  without  this  gateway,  it  appears  that 
the  ground  is  very  much  rifen ;  the  gateway  is  now  about  fifty-four  feet  above 
the  ground ;  and  I  fhould  imagine  that  the  gate  was  higher  than  Diodorus 
mentions,  as  the  ground  feems  to  have  rifen  more  than  eight  feet  and  a 
half  j  but  thefe  ftatues  being  thirteen  feet  and  a  half  above  ground,  if  we 
fuppofe  they  were  fitting,  they  muft  be  near  twenty  feet  at  leaft  under 
ground;  unlefs  they  were  half  ftatues,  fuch  as  are  mentioned  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Carnack.  They  are  of  grey  granite  marble  that  has  large  fpots  of 
white  in  it,;  the  fhoulders  are  about  three  feet  and  a  half  above  ground ; 
the  neck  and  head,  to  the  cap,  meafure  five  feet,  and  the  cap  as  much 
more.  Thefe  are  probably  the  ftatues  mentioned  by  Diodorus,  but  he  feems 
to  fpeak  of  them  as  in  another  part  of  the  temple,  and  describes  them  as 
twenty-feven  cubits  high,  each  of  them  made  of  one  ftone.  The  ftatue 
to  the  weft  differs  little  from  the  other,  except  that  on  the  forehead  there 
is  an  ornament  of  a  ferpent;  the  pilafter  behind  them,  cut  out  of  the 
fame  piece,  in  one  is  fquare  like  an  obelisk,  and  comes  half  way  up 
the  cap  behind;  the  pilafter  of  the  other  not  being  fo  thick;  the  or- 
nament on  the  head  feems  to  be  the  half  of  two  dome  leaves ;  the  head 
itfelf  may  be  fuppoled  to  have  been  defigned  to  be  as  high  as  the  part  of 
the  cap  that  fets  out,  being  three  feet  deep,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
cap  three  feet  more,  fo  that  the  head  being  near  feven  feet  long,  the 
whole  ftatue,  if  ftanding,  would  be  about  fifty  feet  high,  and  fitting,  about 
thirty-four  feet  high,  computing  feven  heads  to  the  whole  body;  fo  that 

1  'O  TlilKm.    Diodorus  i.  p.  44.  irrto  %nir,jum  Sit  pmhttif,  %M  K,  umi 

*  K«t*  li%  rev  TtfwvToiov  7s~%av  vW^eiv  Diodorua  i,  p.  45, 

"   '  if 


Back  of 
Foldout 
Not  Imaged 


ON  EGYPT. 


i 


if  they  were  fitting,  the  ground  muft  have  rifen  above  feventeen  feet;  To 
the  north  of  thefe,  at  AA.  are  two  obelisks,  that  probably  are  the  fined 
in  the  world ;  they  are  now  above  the  ground  fixty  feet  high,  and  might 
be  feventy  or  eighty  according  as  the  ground  has  rifen.  They  are  (even  feet 
and  a  half  fquare,  and  at  bottom  might  be  eight  feet :  The  hieroglyphics 
are  cut  in  with  a  flat  bottom,  an  inch  and  a  half  deep ;  and  the  granite 
has  perfectly  retain'd  its  polifh,  which  is  the  fineft  I  ever  faw.  The 
hieroglyphics  are  in  three  columns  down  every  fide  ;  at  top,  on  each  fide, 
a  perfon  fits  on  a  throne,  and  one  offers  fomething  on  his  knees  :  Thefe 
figures  are  likewife  below.  Lower  are  three  hawks,  then  three  bulls,  and 
at  about  the  diftance  of  every  four  is  an  owl.  I  alfo  obferved  among  the 
hieroglyphics,  ferpents,  infects,  dogs,  hares,  monkies,  birds,  and  heads  of 
camels ;  they  are  exceedingly  well  preferved,  except  that  about  half  of  the 
pyramid  of  the  weftern  obelisk  is  broke  off,  and  the  fouth  weft  corner  of 
the  eaftern  one  is  a  little  batter'd  for  about  fix  feet  high. 

In  the  front  of  the  pyramidal  gate  there  are  windows  over  the  falfe 
doors  a  a.  which  are  about  ten  feet  from  the  top  of  the  building ;  in  the 
front  of  it,  among  other  figures,  is  one  reprefented  fitting  on  a.  throne, 
holding  out  one  hand,  which  has  a  ftaff  or  fceptre  in  it;  the  figures  are  in 
poftures  of  adoration.  On  the  other  fide,  one  who  has  on  the  fame  fort 
of  cap  as  the  other,  is  reprefented  on  a  car  as  gallopping  and  fhooting, 
with  a  bow,  and  many  chariots  after  him.  This  may  relate  to  the  wars 
of  this  King  againft  the  Eactrians  k,  which  our  author  defcribes  as  cut  on 
the  walls  in  another  part  of  the  building  ;  as  the  other  may  be  the  homage 
the  captives  paid  to  him,  mention'd  alfo  as  carved  on  the  walls  '.  Next  he 
gives  an  account  of  a  court  m  four  hundred  feet  fquare.  This  may  be  the 
colonnade  D.  tho'  the  meafures  do  not  anfwer.  Pofiibly  it  might  have 
been  near  four  hundred  feet  wide,  extending  a  hundred  feet  further  to  the 
water,  and  as  much  on  the  other  fide.  Inftead  of  pillars,  he  fays  it  was 
adorn'd  with  beafts  cut  out  of  one  ftone  four  and  twenty  feet  high,  exe- 
cuted after  the  antient  manner,  and  it  was  cover'd  with  ftones  twelve  feet 
long,  the  ceiling  being  adorn'd  with  fculptures  of  ftars,  and  painted  with 
azure.  In  that  manner  a  portico  might  be  built  on  each  fide,  with  the 
colonnade  as  reprefented  in  the  middle.  This  court  is  almoft  all  inha- 
bited, and  fill'd  up  with  little  cottages  within  the  lines  mark'd  in  the 
plan,  fo  that  I  could  not  go  into  it ;  but  from  the  pillars  I  faw,  I  con- 
cluded the  colonnade  was  continued  as  it  is  reprefented ;  at  d.  I  faw  the 
top  of  the  cap  of  a  ftatue  of  red  granite,  juft  above  the  ground,  which 
might  be  the  remains  of  one  of  the  fmaller  ftatues,  and  there  feem  to 
have  been  coloffal  ftatues  at  the  pedeftals  e  e.  The  pillars  of  the  court 
are  as  Numb.  3 .  in  the  firft  plate  of  columns.  Beyond  this  colonnade  he 
fays  there  was  another  entrance  and  gateway  much  the  fame  as  the  other, 
except  that  the  fculpture  was  ftill  finer.  This  feems  to  have  been  the  py- 
ramidal gate  E.  as  I  took  it  to  be,  which  is  much  deftroy'd.  At  the  en- 
trance he  mentions  three  ftatues,  each  of  one  ftone,  the  work  of  Memnon 
Sicnites,  who  doubtlefs  was  a  very  famous  fculptor  ;  one  of  them  was  fit- 
ting, and  the  largeft  in  Egypt,  the  foot  of  it  being  ten  feet  and  a  half 
long.    He  makes  mention  of  many  other  particulars  of  the  ftatues,  and 

vsatepw  Tfl*  yuapwav  WTu  5T£0f  TBf  ev  TS^  Bajt7&<0(r     (3jfcr;A£ai(  dyoptvxt.  DiodorUS  ibid. 

«Vsfoiv7«f.  Diodorus  ibid.  m  This  he  calls  to  mztsvxw,  a  colonnade. 

efpecially 

2 


io8  OBSERVATIONS 

■efpecially  the  very  remarkable  infcription  that  was  on  this  vaft  colofl'us ". 
"  I  am  the  King  of  Kings,  Ofymanduas :  If  any  would  know  how  great 
':  I  am,  and  where  I  lie,  let  him  exceed  the  works  that  I  have  done." 
This  ftatue,  without  doubt,  has  been  broken  to  pieces  and  carried  away, 
as  there  are  not  the  leaft  figns  of  it.  Beyond  this  gateway  was  another 
court  °  much  finer  than  the  laft,  containing  the  hiftory  of  the  King,  cut 
all  round  the  walls,  and  there  was  a  very  large  and  beautiful  altar  in  the 
middle  of  it,  in  the  open  air.  This  feems  to  comprehend  the  courts  F.  and 
G.  unlefs  the  former  might  be  look'd  on  only  as  the  entrance  to  it,  which 
is  not  improbable.  The  fuppofed  gateway  H.  is  only  from  conjecture, 
there  being  nothing  but  a  rude  heap  of  ftones ;  and  the  area  G.  feems  to 
be  a  very  proper  place  for  the  magnificent  altar  that  is  defcribed.  And 
poffibly  thofe  ruins  I  fuppofe  in  the  plan  to  be  remains  of  a  pyramidal 
gateway,  might  be  the  buildings  of  this  altar,  which  might  be  of  fuch  a 
defign  as  that  of  the  temple  of  jerufalem,  built  ol  large  ftones.  The  pil- 
lars in  this  court  are  forty  feet  high,  and  are  of  the  order  Numb.  6.  in 
the  plate  of  capitals.  The  work  of  the  capitals  is  not  in  relief,  but  only 
cut  out  in  lines.  He  next  mentions  a  place  like  thofe  rooms,  that  were 
built  on  purpofe  for  mufick,  which  may  be  the  apartment  I.  tho'  his 
meafures  do  not  agree.  The  pillars  are  fuch  as  Numb.  6.  in  the  firft 
plate  of  columns,  and  fo  are  moft  of  the  others  in  the  rooms  beyond.  He 
after  fpeaks  of  feveral  apartments  to  walk  in,  and  gives  a  particular  ac- 
count of  the  beautiful  fculpture  they  were  adorn'd  with,  which  gnight  be 
fome  porticos  and  rooms  on  each  fide,  that  are  now  deftroy'd. 

He  then  gives  an  account  of  the  facred  library,  with  that  remarkable  in- 
fcription on  it:  "The  repofitory  of  the  remedies  for  the  foul p."  This  might 
confift  of  the  two  rooms  K.  In  thofe  rooms  are  the  figures  in  the  forty- 
fecond  plate,  except  the  loweft  ;  one  is  a  Deity  carried  in  a  fort  of  boat  by 
eighteen  men,  preceded  and  follow'd  by  a  perfon  with  a  particular  enfign 
in  his  hand  ;  the  upper  one  has  no  perfon  appearing  on  it,  but  a  fort  of 
cover  in  the  middle  of  it,  and  is  carried  only  by  twelve  men,  there  being 
no  one  before  it '.  I  obferved  one  figure  on  the  walls  had  a  tortoife  on  the 
head  for  a  cap,  in  another  part  a  man  leading  four  bulls  with  a  firing, 
which  were  cut  as  on  four  floors  mark'd  with  a  line  one  over  another, 
and  in  feveral  parts  inftruments  of  facrifice.  I  remarked  alfo  in  a  compart- 
ment, a  figure  fitting,  and  one  kneeling  before  it,  on  whofe  cafque  the 
fitting  figure  puts  his  left  hand,  having  the  crofs,  with  a  handle  to  it,  in 
his  right.  Another  with  a  hawk's  head  holds  his  left  hand  over  the  head 
of  the  perfon  that  kneels,  having  the  fame  fort  of  crofs  in  his  right  hand. 
Behind  him  is  a  fhort  figure,  which  feem'd  to  have  wings  on  the  fide  of 
his  head.  Below  them  are  three  perfons  kneeling,  with  kawks  heads.  It 
is  difficult  to  fay  whether  or  no  this  might  be  the  King  offering  gold  and 
filver  to  the  Deity,  that  he  received  yearly  out  of  the  mines  of  Egypt, 
which  Diodorus  fays  was  cut  on  fome  part  of  the  walls  of  the  temple '. 
I  obferved  a  door  here  with  a  ftrait  top  within ;  but  without  it  was  cut  in 

n  B«fftAEiIf  BktAswi  'Ojujwa^Jac  npi  ei  Jf  t;?  ^  Not  having  taken  a  drawing  of  the  men,  the 
HSiioA  QiKilu*  ts^ix®*  >^  kh^sm,  mxzZtv  u  exaft  manner  in  which  they  are  reprcfented  is  not 
twi<  Bjwav.eg^-ftiv.  Diodorus  i.  p.  44.  to  be  anfwcr'd  for. 

0  'o  sree/Ta?©*.  Diodorus  i.  p.  45,  r  Diodorus  ibid. 

P  yv*/r,s  'i»t£wv.  Diodorus  ibid. 

an 


3 


ON  EGYPT. 

an  arch,  fpmething  like  the  fliell  of  a  niche,  which  might  firft  give  the 
thought  for  the  arch  in  Egypt.  With  the  library  he  mentions  about  twenty 
apartments,  in  which  are  the  reprefentations  of  Jupiter,  Juno,  and  the 
King,  with  feveral  rooms  about  them,  in  which  were  cut  in  the  moft  cu- 
rious manner,  all  the  facred  animals  of  Egypt.  Thefe  feem  to  be  thofe 
feveral  apartments  on  each  fide,  and  many  more  that  have  been  deftroy'd, 
which  probably  made  the  building  all  the  way  of  the  fame  breadth.  At 
laft  he  comes  to  the  fepulchre  itfelf,  which  I  take  to  have  been  at  L.  He 
fpeaks  of  afcending  to  it,  and  over  the  grand  apartment  there  is  another 
low  room,  where  the  body  of  Ofymanduas  might  be  depofited;  in  which, 
it  feems,  there  was  a  plate  of  gold  that  probably  often  went  round  the 
room,  fo  as  to  be  three  hundred  fixty-five  cubits  in  length,  and  a  cubit 
thick,  or  rather  broad ;  on  each  of  which  cubits  was  cut  the  rifing  and 
fetting  of  all  the  ftars  for  every  day  in  the  year,  and  the  effects  the  Egyp- 
tian aftrologers  attributed  to  them,  according  to  their  different  difpofitions. 
This  great  treafure  they  fay  Cambyfes  and  the  Perfians  carried  away.  The 
entablature  round  this  room  is  very  rich,  as  reprefented  in  the  forty- third 
plate.  Our  author  alfo  obferves  that  near  the  library  were  figures  of  all 
the  Gods  of  Egypt,  with  the  King  making  a  proper  prefent  to  every  one  of 
them  ;  and  thefe  I  take  to  be  the  figures  reprefented  in  the  front  of  the 
building  of  the  fuppofed  fepulchre  in  the  forty-third  plate,  where  it  is 
probable  the  middle  figure  fitting  is  Ofiris,  with  five  Gods  on  each  fide  '. 
The  ftone  below,  which  is  reprefented  with  a  dark  fhade,  is  a  very  parti- 
cular red  ftone,  which  I  faw  went  through  to  the  upper  room,  and  poffibly 
on  it  might  be  cut  a  relief  of  the  King  offering  his  gifts  to  the  feveral 
Deities.  This  was  certainly  a  very  proper  reprefentation  at  the  fepulchre 
of  this  great  King,  to  fet  forth,  as  our  author  obferves,  to  Ofiris  and  the 
Gods  that  were  with  him,  that  he  had  finifh'd  a  life  fpent  in  acts  of  piety 
towards  the  Gods,  and  of  juftice  to  mankind  '.  Another  thing  is  very  re- 
markable in  the  front,  that  a  building  is  mark'd  out  on  it,  that  fhews 
fomething  of  a  very  fine  tafte,  and  that  the  Egyptians  had  a  notion  of  a 
beautiful  difpohtion  of  lights,  and  of  architecture  in  general,  where  it  was 
proper  to  make  ufe  of  fuch  buildings,  which  we  may  fuppofe  was  not 
convenient  for  temples,  that  are  generally  built  without  windows,  and  with 
maffive  walls,  that  have  no  other  variety  in  them,  than  that  of  hierogly- 
phics. 

Here  I  finifli  d  my  obfervations  on  the  antient  city  of  Thebes,  celebrated 
by  the  firft  of  poets  and  hiftorians  that  are  now  extant ;  that  venerable 
city,  the  date  of  whofe  ruin  is  older  than  the  foundation  of  moft  other 
cities ;  and  yet  fuch  vaft  and  furprizing  remains  are  ftill  to  be  feen  of  fuch 
magnificence  and  folidity,  as  may  convince  any  one  that  beholds  them, 
that  without  fome  extraordinary  accidents,  they  muft  have  lafted  for  ever, 
which  feems  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  founders  of  them. 

As  the  city  of  Thebes  was  fo  antient,  fciences  fiourifh'd  in  it  very  early, 
particularly  aftronomy  and  philofophy ;  in  which  the  priefts  "  efpecially 

E  Thefe  words  of  Diodoms  feem  to  be  a  very  1  See  s. 

juft  defcription  of  thefe  figures,  as  here  repre-  u  AlyovTou     ^  u^ava^ot  «,  ipiAs'o-otpoi  y.aAi;u  oi 

fented;  in  which  the  Gods  are  made  as  fitting  be-  hlxvQx  h^;.  Strabo  xvii.  p.  Si  6. 

low  Ofiris,  as  a  fort  of  afleffors  to  him.  O/  2}  0>j£aioi'  qjamy  °cujt£s  ct'^aMDlceTsf  eivau  jr«V 

xk'tw  zrafEe^ar,  oti  tov  (i!cv  l|sT^e«B  dlciQw  itj  &xeuo-     fi^t-o&oy  jtj  tjJv  It  Uk&GU  «V§oAcj<i<jti\    Diodorus  i. 

n&ym  u^s  rt  «\9fw7T8f  ^  ©e»f.  Diodorus  ibid,      p.  46. 

Vol.  I.  F  f  were 


OBSERVATIONS 

were  very  well  verfed,  and  firft  fet  themfelves  to  regulate  the  time,  and 
meafured  it  by  folar  months  and  years. 

I  muft  not  omit  to  obferve  that  fome  are  of  opinion  that  Sheba  is 
Thebes ;  and  fuppofe  the  Greeks,  having  no  way  of  writing  the  former 
name,  alter'd  it  to  Thebai. 


CHAP.  IV. 

From  Thebes  to  Erment,  Esne,  Etfou,  Ombos, 
and  Assouan  the  old  Syene  near  the  CataraiSls. 

Erment,  the  T  LEFT  Luxerein  in  the  evening,  and  we  came  to  Erment  on  the 
SHmBOn~  _|  weft,  which  is  the  antient  city  Hermonthis,  in  which  Apollo  and  Ju- 
piter were  worfhipped  w  ;  it  was  the  capital  of  a  province  of  that  name. 
I  faw  the  ruins  of  it  when  I  return'd.  We  went  to  the  Sheik's  houfe, 
who  conducted  us  to  the  old  city,  the  ground  of  which  is  very  much 
raifed,  in  the  midft  of  a  large  plain ;  it  feem'd  to  have  been  between  three 
and  four  miles  round.  There  are  remains  of  the  fmall  temple  A.  in  the 
forty-fourth  plate,  which  feems  to  be  of  great  antiquity  ;  it  might  be  the 
temple  in  which  Apollo  was  worfhipped,  becaufe  of  the  great  number  of 
hawks  that  are  cut  in  it ;  the  frieze  is  adorn'd  with  them  in  a  very  parti- 
cular manner,  as  in  the  drawings  of  the  entablatures.  The  ante-temple 
B.  is  very  much  deftroy'd ;  the  enclofure  C.  round  it,  and  the  temple 
itfelf,  are  very  particular,  but  little  remains  except  the  foundations.  The 
inner  temple  D.  is  intire ;  there  are  flairs  up  to  the  top,  through  the  wall,  on 
one  fide  of  the  building,  which  is  about  twenty-five  feet  high  "j  it  is  adorn'd 
with  hieroglyphics  within  and  without.  On  the  outfide  are  four  ftories  of 
hieroglyphics  of  men,  but  only  three  appear  within.  In  the  ceiling  of 
the  firft  room  there  are  five  hawks  with  fpread  wings ;  in  the  fecond  room 
feven,  and  two  rams  face  to  face  ,•  the  reft  of  the  ceiling  is  adorn'd  with 
ftars,  and  on  each  fide  are  fome  fmall  hieroglyphics  with  human  bodies, 
and  the  heads  of  a  great  variety  of  beads;  and  on  each  fide  of  a  large 
hawk  are  two  perfons  holding  out  both  their  hands  to  the  bird.  It  is  faid 
that  a  facred  bull  was  worfhipped  here;  and  one  would  imagine  that  this 
was  the  place  where  he  was  kept,  for  at  one  end  of  the  inner  room  two 
bulls  are  cut  in  the  ftone,  and  a  great  number  of  women  with  children  in 
their  laps  held  to  their  breafts.  A  little  nearer  the  river,  on  one  fide  of 
the  temple,  is  a  deep  bafin,  as  of  a  pond :  At  fome  diftance  from  that 
are  the  ruins  of  a  building  that  was  erefted  on  the  beautiful  plan  E.  I 
fhould  think  the  defign  too  fine  for  a  Chriftian  church,  built  on  the  firft 
eftablifhment  of  Chriftianity  in  the  fourth  century,  and  fhould  rather  ima- 
gine  that  it  might  have  had  fome  alterations  made  in  it  at  that  time;  for  it 
i  >pears  to  have  been  a  church,  from  croffes  cut  on  iome  of  the  ftones,  and 
Coptic  paintings  and  inferiptions  in  many  parts  ot  it  that  are  plaifter'd  ; 
but  there  are  very  little  remains,  except  at  the  weft  end,  where  the  rooms 

"  MiT*  J?  e;S»!t  tfgdSfs  ec'aic,  !i  j  S,n  'Aot'a-      *  The  ifairs  and  door  to  the  third  room  are  on 
km  tyuSrw,  *,  •'  Zfv;'  TjiifsTKi  Is  (3»t.    the  right_hand,  which  by  miftake  are  engraved 

Strabo  xvii.  p.  816.  on  the  left. 

had 


y-  r  g  g 


jBMAJSTS  Lftuo  Temples        Erment  - 


ON    EGYPT.  a 

had  galleries  over  them,  which  might  be  for  the  women.  I  obferved  forne 
of  the  niches,  which  appear'd  to  have  been  hewn  into  a  rough  fhell  at 
top,  as  if  they  had  been  built  at  firft  with  a  ftrait  top  ;  the  pillars  feem  to 
have  been  of  one  ftone  or  red  granite,  after  the  Greek  architecture  of  the 
Corinthian  order  ;  it  is  probable  the  femicircles  and  rooms  at  each  end 
were  made  by  the  Chriftians.  This  might  be  the  temple  to  Jupiter,  and 
rebuilt  in  the  Greek  tafte  under  the  government  of  the  Ptolemies. 

On  the  eighteenth  we  went  on  with  very  little  wind,  and .  fhot  at  a 
crocodile,  as  he  was  on  his  legs  going  into  the  water  from  a  fandy  ifle, 
and  had  reafon  to  think  the  ball  ftruck  him ;  for,  contrary  to  their  ufual 
cuftom  of  walking  in  flowly,  he  open'd  his  mouth  after  the  fhot,  and 
jump'd  five  or  fix  feet  into  the  water.  We  paffed  by  two  little  hills  on 
the  weft,  call'd  Jebelin  (The  hills;)  on  one  there  is  a  Sheik's  tomb,  and 
there  feem'd  to  me  to  be  fome  ruins  on  the  other.  This  I  thought  might 
be  Aphroditopolis,  that  is  the  city  of  Venus,  rather  than  the  city  of  Cro-  Aphrodi 
codiles  that  Strabo  firft  fpeaks  of,  for  a  reafon  1  fhall  hereafter  mention.  Polk 
On  the  nineteenth  we  came  to  Efne  on  the  weft,  a  confiderable  town  for  e&« 
thefe  parts;  we  went  afhoar  and  ftaid  about  an  hour,  and  the  men  want- 
ing a  large  ftone  for  ballaft,  the  people  knowing  we  were  Europeans, 
would  not  let  them  take  it  into  the  boat,  faying,  that  the  Franks,  if  they 
took  away  that  ftone,  would  by  their  magic  art,  draw  away  their  hidden 
treafures.  The  Arab  intereft  here  is  under  the  Sheik  ofFurfhout;  under 
him  there  are  two  Serifs  or  relations  of  Mahomet,  that  have  the  chief  in- 
fluence in  the  town;  but  there  is  a  Cadi,  and  alfo  a  Cafhif,  who  as  I  ap- 
prehend, is  fent  under  the  Bey  of  Girge.  There  are  about  a  hundred 
Chriftians  in  the  town,  and  two  priefts,  who  have  a  large  church. 

I  faw  this  place,  and  the  antiquities  about  it,  in  my  return.  I  had  let- 
ters to  the  Cafhif,  who  was  abfent,  but  I  had  feen  him  above,  fo  his 
people  were  ready  to  go  with  me.  I  carried  letters  I  had  to  one  of  the 
Serifs,  and  likewife  a  prefent,  and  he  went  with  me  to  fee  the  temple  on. 
the  north  fide  of  the  town.  I  carried  alfo  letters  and  a  prefent  to  ano- 
ther Greenhead,  who  feem'd  to  be  a  very  worthy  man.  1  had  not  been 
long  in  my  boat  before  he  fent  me  a  prefent  of  bread,  a  kid,  and  fome 
other  things  I  wanted,  and  fent  to  me  to  draw  my  boat  near  to  his  bark, 
where  he  faid  I  fhould  be  more  fecure  by  night.  The  next  day  he  went 
with  me  and  the  Cafhif 's  people  about  three  miles  to  the  north  north  weft, 
to  an  antient  temple  A.  in  the  forty-fifth  plate.  As  I  faw  the  figure  of  a 
woman  fitting,  cut  in  feveral  parts  of  the  wall,  I  conjectured  that  this 
might  be  the  temple  of  Pallas  at  Latopolis,  where  both  that  Deity  and  the  LmopoK 
fifh  Latus  were  worfhipped.  The  narrow  paffage  on  each  fide  feems  to 
have  been  for  the  fame  defign  as  in  fome  other  temples,  fome  way  or  other 
to  impofe  on  the  people  j  and  the  little  cell  B.  might  be  to  keep  fome  fa- 
cred  animal  in;  it  is  about  three  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  rooms,  and 
near  eight  feet  high;  The  capitals  of  the  pillars  in  this  temple  are  fome- 
thing  like  the  Corinthian,  but  with  a  very  flat  relief,  fome  of  them  be- 
ing but  little  higher  than  if  mark'd  out  with  lines.  There  are  feveral  forts 
of  capitals,  one  of  which  is  the  fourth  in  the  plate  of  capitals.  Within  the 
temple  are  three  ftories  of  hieroglyphics  of  men  about  three  feet  high,  and 
■  at  one  end  the  loweft  figures  are  as  big  as  the  life ;  one  of  them  I  obferved 
had  the  head  of  the  Ibis.  The  ceiling  is  curioufly  adorn'd  with  all  forts 
3  °f 


ii2  OBSERVATIONS 

of  animals,  and  painted  in  very  beautiful  colours;  among  them  I  obferved 
a  figure  fitting  on  what  appear'd  like  a  boat,  with  a  circle  round  him, 
and  two  inftruments  at  one  end,  as  reprefented  in  the  loweft  figure  of  the 
forty-fecond  plate.  I  obferved  alfo  a  ram  with  a  crofs  on  his  head,  fomc- 
what  like  the  handle  of  a  fword,  and  acrofs  his  neck  was  fomething  re- 
fembling  wings.  Among  the  animals  I  obferved  the  beetle,  and  a  fort  of 
fcorpion;  all  the  hieroglyphics  are  very  well  cut,  but  fome  of  them  are 
defaced.  This  temple  appears  to  have  been  ufed  as  a  church,  and  1  faw 
fome  Coptic  infcriptions  on  the  wall  in  black  letters,  and  they  told  me 
that  there  had  been  a  convent  there,  fo  that  the  temple  feems  to  have  been 
turn'd  to  that  ufe.  On  the  north  fide  of  the  town  of  Efne,  there  is  ano- 
ther temple  C.  in  the  forty-fifth  plate.  The  pillars  are  almoft  all  diffe- 
rent, but  fomething  approaching  the  Corinthian  order,  and  fhaped  like 
the  capital  mention'd  before  in  the  other  temple.  This  whole  building  is 
very  richly  carved  with  hieroglyphics.  I  faw  one  man  with  the  goat's 
head,  and  a  man  with  a  crocodile's  head  is  cut  over  the  middle  door  that 
is  oppofite  to  the  entrance.  There  are  feveral  others  in  the  walls  with 
crocodiles  heads  likevvife,  and  alfo  fome  crocodiles ;  which  makes  me  think 
CityotCro-  that  this  was  the  city  of  Crocodiles,  where  that  beaft  was  worfhipped,  as 
co  lies.  straDO  obferves  j ;  tho'  he  mentions  the  city  of  Crocodiles  before  Aphro- 
ditopolis  and  Latopolis,  whereas  if  the  city  of  Crocodiles  "were  put  laft 
inftead  of  firft,  it  would  agree  with  the  fituation  I  give  thefe  places. 
The  old  city  feems  to  have  been  to  the  north  about  this  temple,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  town  I  faw  the  remains  of  an  antient  quay  of  ruftic  ftone 
work,  with  ftairs  down  to  the  river.  A  mile  to  the  fouth  of  Efne  is  the 
monaftery  of  St.  Helen,  by  whom  they  fay  it  was  founded :  It  has  been 
more  commonly  call'd  the  convent  of  the  martyrs,  and  it  was  a  place  of 
great  devotion.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  great  burial  ground,  the  fpot 
where  they  buried  the  dead  not  being  lefs  than  a  mile  round.  Many  of 
the  tombs  are  magnificent,  being  a  dome  on  four  arches,  with  a  little 
cupola  on  the  top,  fomething  refembling  the  holy  fepulchre,  and  built  of 
brick.  Some  of  them  have  a  crofs,  others  the  eagle  cut  on  them,  and  a 
fhort  Greek  infeription  *.  It  is  a  very  indifferent  convent,  and  the  church 
is  mean.  There  are  only  two  monks  in  it,  who  cannot  marry ;  but  their 
relations,  both  women  and  children,  live  in  the  convent :  This  is  the  laft 
church  in  Egypt.  I  made  them  a  prefent  of  fome  incenfe,  knives,  and 
fciffars;  and  they  entertain'd  us  with  what  they  could  provide.  To  the 
north  of  the  convent  there  is  fome  wood,  and  cotton  fhrubs  of  the  per- 
ennial kind  ;  on  the  eaft  fide  alfo  I  faw  the  fenna.  I  obferved  here  at  a 
diftance  from  the  river,  that  they  dig  large  holes  in  the  ground  about 
fifteen  feet  deep  to  make  bricks  ;  and  the  water  of  the  Nile  comes  into 
them,  and  they  raife  it  by  buckets  to  water  the  ground. 

It  has  been  faid  that  there  are  quarries  of  porphyry  and  granite  about 
ten  miles  north  weft  of  Efne  ;  but  fome  writers  of  travels  do  not  diftinguifh 
porphyry  from  granite,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  quarries  they  mention 
may  be  only  of  the  latter. 

f  "Kuala.  KfoituJa'tov  aro>,i;  n^Ssm  tJ  &«&>V  <Sr«      ■  On  many  of  them,  as  well  as  about  the  con- 
'Asf^aSiivn  sra'Ajf,  ji,  juera  t«Jt«  AetToVoAir,  n^ma.   vent,  thefe  words  are  cut : 
'A&jj^kv  >t,  -rov  A«'tdv.   Strabo  xvii.  p.  817.  Here 

Crocodilopolis  is  put  firft,  but  poflibly  the  order  Eft       i  BtiiOt'r. 

of  the  words  may  have  been  tranfpofed. 

About 


\ 


O  N  E  G  Y  P  T.  113 

About  fifteen  miles  above  Efne,  as  I  conjeftured,  I  faw  on  the  weft  the 
remains  of  a  wall  about  ten  feet  thick,  and  forty  feet  long,  eight  tiers  of 
ftone  remaining  of  it.  Here  I  thought  there  might  be  fome  antient  city, 
and  conjectured  that  it  might  be  the  city  of  Hawks '.  We  flopped  at  a 
place  where  feveral  other  boats  ftaid  all  night :  Hearing  us  talk,  they  afk'd 
if  we  were  Franks;  and  the  boatmen  told  the  people  that  we  were  fol- 
diers  from  the  Grand  Signor,  for  they  cannot  diftinguifh  the  Turkifh  lan- 
guage from  any  other.  On  the  twentieth  we  came  to  Etfou,  which  I  faw  Etfou. 
in  my  return :  It  was  the  city  call'd  Great  Apollinopolis.  They  were  here  Apollinopo 
declared  enemies  to  the  crocodile  b.  I  went  to  the  Sheik's  houfe,  and  car-  lls' 
ried  the  letter  I  had  from  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout.  When  he  knew  who  it 
was  from,  he  kifs'd  the  letter  and  put  it  to  his  forehead,  which  is  a  mark 
of  great  refpect.  I  made  him  a  handfome  prefent,  and  he  behaved  very 
humbly,  and  with  great  civility  ;  and  when  the  letter  was  read,  and  I  defired 
to  fee  the  ruins,  he  put  his  hand  up  to  his  head,  which  was  a  mark  of  his 
compliance,  and  that  he  took  me  under  his  protection.  He  went  himfelf 
with  me,  and  fhew'd  me  the  temple ;  a  plan  of  which  may  be  feen  in  the 
forty-fixth  plate,  with  the  front  of  the  grand  pyramidal  gate,  and  a  fedtion 
of  it.  In  the  front  of  it  are  cut  coloflal  figures  in  two  ftories,  fome  ftand- 
ing  and  fome  fitting.  Among  thofe  that  were  ftanding,  I  obferved  three 
pair  ftanding  face  to  face ;  one  figure  near  each  corner  is  twenty  feet 
high,  and  has  the  hawk's  head.  Before  I  had  entirely  finifh'd  meafuring 
the  temple,  a  great  many  people  came  about  me,  and  giving  my  book  to 
my  fervant  when  I  meafured,  a  young  man  caught  it  out  of  his  hand 
and  ran  away  with  it :  He  was  the  Sheik's  nephew,  the  brothers  having 
been  competitors  for  the  government  of  this  village ;  fo.  they  envied  him 
the  prefents  they  imagined  he  might  get,  and  the  notions  of  treafures 
likewife  poffefs'd  their  minds.  My  fervant  ran  after  him,  and  fo  did  the 
Sheik.  I  continued  on  meafuring,  and  writing  on  another  paper,  till  the 
Sheik  return'd  with  his  pike,  having  thrown  off  his  outward  garment  when 
he  went  in  fearch  of  his  nephew,  whom  they  fay  he  would  have  gone 
near  to  have  kill'd  if  he  had  met  with  him.  He  conducted  me  to  his 
houfe,  and  carried  the  matter  fo  far,  that  I  was  afraid  we  might  have  fuffer'd 
in  the  tumult ;  for  they  came  to  high  words,  his  brother  being  favour'd  by 
many  of  the  people :  They  faid  it  was  hard  thefe  ftrangers  could  not  leave 
them  to  be  quiet  in  their  villages.  I  was  very  defirous  to  go  to  my  boat ; 
but  it  was  faid  the  Sheik  would  take  it  ill  if  I  would  not  ftay  and  eat  with 
him.  In  the  mean  time  I  was  privately  inform'd  that  I  might  have  my 
note  book,  if  I  would  give  about  the  value  of  a  crown,  which  I  con- 
fented  to,  and  it  was  accordingly  brought  me.  We  fat  down  to  eat  out 
of  a  very  large  wooden  bowl  lull  of  their  thin  cakes,  broke  into  very 
fmall  pieces,  and  a  fyrup  mix'd  up  with  it.  The  Sheik  himfelf  fat  at  a 
diftance,  and  did  not  eat  with  us ;  he  mounted  his  horfe,  and  attended 
me  to  the  boat:  Some  others  alfo  came,  particularly  the  chief  of  the  con- 
trary party,  for  the  village  had  been  in  rebellion  againft  their  great  head 
at  Furfhout.  The  Sheik  made  me  a  prefent  of  a  fheep,  came  into  the 
boat,  and  order'd  a  letter  to  be  written  to  the  great  Sheik.  We  fet  fail, 
and  near  an  hour  after  the  Sheik's  fon  came  riding  to  the  river,  to  let  us 

p.  817.  jcgoxs&Usif.  Strabo  ibid. 

Vol.  I.  G  g  know 


n4  OBSERVATIONS 

know  that  his  father  had  been  informed  I  had  given  money  to  have 
my  book  reftored,  and  had  obliged  them  to  return  the  money,  and  had 
fent  it  to  me  ;  thus  I  experienced  in  this  brave  Arab  fuch  an  extraordinary 
inftance  of  fidelity,  as  is  rarely  to  be  met  with. 

Above  Efne  the  country  is  very  thinly  inhabited,  and  the  Nile  broad. 
Hajar-Siiciiy.  We  approach'd  towards  Hajar-Silcily,  and  fome  time  before  I  came  to  it,  I 
faw  the  rock  on  the  weft,  cut  out  as  for  a  grand  gate,  and  fouth  of  it 
fome  ruins  and  pillars:  A  little  further  fouth,  I  faw  five  regular  entrances 
into  grottos,  cut  equally  diftant  in  the  rock ;  above  them  a  cornice  or  half 
round  appeared  to  have  crowned  the  work,  for  only  the  half  round  re- 
mained, it  had  alfo  half  rounds  at  the  angles;  a  view  of  it  may  be  feen 
in  the  twenty  fifth  plate.  Going  on  to  Hajar-Silcily,  or  the  rock  of  the 
chain,  I  took  particular  notice  of  this  remarkable  place,  where  the  Nile  is 
very  narrow,  I  fuppofe  not  above  a  hundred  yards  over ;  the  rocks  come  to 
the  river  on  each  fide,  and  the  current  is  very  ftrong.  It  has  its  name,  be- 
caufe  it  is  faid  a  chain  was  drawn  a-crofs  to  defend  the  pafs,  and  they 
fhewed  me  a  rock  on  the  eaft  fide,  where  they  told  me  the  chain  was 
fixed,  which  is  reprefented  in  the  eighth  plate  at  C.  The  rock  on  the  weft 
fide  is  cut  into  four  forts  of  niches,  or  fmall  open  temples  for  the  worfhip 
of  fome  Deities,  as  they  feem  to  have  been  defigned;  they  are  adorn'd 
with  cornices,  pilafters  and  hieroglyphics;  a  plan  and  view  of  which  I 
have  given  in  the  forty-feventh  plate.  Here  alfo  are  fome  pillars  cut  out 
of  the  rock,  which  are  entire,  with  their  pedeftals ;  I  meafured  them  ex- 
actly, to  fee  if  the  Egyptian  architecture  could  be  brought  to  any  rule. 
On  the  rock  over  thefe  works  is  a  relief  cut  in  an  oblong  fquare  com- 
partment, after  the  Greek  tafte,  confifting  of  a  tree,  a  man  on  a  horfe, 
and  another  before  as  leading  the  beaft,  with  a  pike  in  his  hand,  and  an 
infcription  of  eight  fhort  lines,  exceedingly  defaced.  There  was  proba- 
bly a  garrifon  at  this  place,  and  the  people  who  were  here  might  from 
time  to  time  caufe  thefe  things  to  be  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  in  the  way 
of  their  religion.  In  our  return,  when  I  ftaid  fome  time  afhore,  the 
boatmen  cut  down  a  tree ;  fome  labourers  near  fpoke  to  them  not  to  do 
it,  and  I  likewife  difcourag'd  it  ;  but  when  the  labourers  were  gone  away, 
they  carried  it  into  their  boat :  But  after  we  had  put  off,  we  foon  faw 
fome  horfemen  appear,  who  probably  had  notice  of  our  landing,  and 
if  they  had  arrived  fooner,  might  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  plun- 
der us.  The  village  of  Pthonthis,  mentioned  by  Ptolemy,  as  diftant  from 
the  river,  twenty  four  miles  from  Elephantine,  and  twenty  from  Apolli- 
nopolis,  might  be  at  fome  diftance  to  the  weft,  as  the  fituation  agrees 
pretty  well  with  this  account.  We  lay  above  this  paflage,  where  the  Nile 
is  very  wide ;  there  is  a  fandy  ground  on  each  fide,  being  a  gentle  afcent, 
and  fo  has  been  wafhed  away  by  the  waters,  that  muft  be  much  confin'd 
above  this  ftreight.  We  afterwards  paffed  by  feveral  fandy  iflands,  on 
which  we  faw  many  crocodiles,  on  one  there  were  near  twenty  of  them, 
which  feem'd  to  be  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  long;  we  fhot  at  them, 
and  about  half  of  them  went  into  the  water,  and  firing  a  lecond  time 
they  all  went  off;  there  may  be  more  crocodiles  here  than  in  any  other 
parts,  as  well  becaufe  the  Ombites  worfhipped  them,  and  fuffered 
none  of  them  to  be  killed,  as  alfo  by  reafon  that  the  cataracts  are  fo 
near  ;  for  when  the  crocodiles  meet  with  rocks  they  retire,  fo  that  if  they 

come 


ONEGYPT.  115 

come  from  the  lower  parts,  and  can  go  only  a  little  higher,  it  may  be 
natural  for  them  to  fettle  about  thefe  iflands,  fo  convenient  for  their  ly- 
ing out  of  the  water  in  the  fun,  and  it  may  not  be  agreeable  to  them 
to  go  down  the  ftrong  current  at  the  ftreight.  We  came  to  a  large  ifland,  ' 
and  oppofite  to  it  on  the  eaft  fide  to  Com-Ombo,  or  the  hill  of  Ombo,  Com  Omi-o, 
which  is  the  antient  Ombos ;  there  are  great  ruins  about  the  hill,  bos.  °  * 
efpecially  of  an  antient  temple:  I  took  a  view  of  it,  which  may  be  feen 
in  the  forty-eighth  plate  at  A.  The  capitals  of  the  pillars  are  in  the  beft 
Egyptian  tafte,  adorned  with  leaves ;  and  there  feems  to  have  been  at  each 
end  of  the  fmall  area,  before  the  temple,  fuch  a  grand  gate  as  has  been 
defcribed  at  Thebes,  of  which  the  building  to  the  fouth  feemed  to  be 
fome  remains.  The  people  cf  Ombos  were  famous  for  the  worfhip  of 
the  crocodile,  and  iElian  *  gives  an  account  that  they  fed  them  in  their 
marfhes,  which  1  fuppofe  were  thefe  low  iflands;  they  were  perfectly  tame, 
and  obeyed  when  they  were  called.  We  went  on  to  the  port  of  Lafher- 
rad,  where  the  Cafhif  of  Elne  was  encamped ;  we  would  have  paffed  him, 
but  they  called  to  us,  and  the  boatmen  dar'd  not  to  proceed:  They 
ftopp'd  us  the  rather,  as  by  the  covering  of  the  boat  they  conjectured  we 
were  Europeans:  I  had  letters  to  him,  but  did  not  know  that  he  was 
the  perfon  to  whom  they  were  directed;  1  carried  him  a  prefent  of  to- 
bacco, coffee,  and  fome  other  things  (of  which  he  faid  there  was  no 
need)  and  told  him  I  was  come  to  fee  the  antiquities,  and  defired  him 
to  give  me  leave  to  view  Com-Ombo,  to  which  he  readily  confented ; 
but  the  Arab  Sheiks  of  Laflierrad,  who  were  prefent,  when  they  heard 
of  it,  immediately  cried  out,  that  I  muft  not  go  to  the  hill ;  and  then 
their  difcourfe  ran  on  the  Europeans  coming  in  fearch  of  treafures.  When 
I  departed,  the  people  of  the  Cafhif  came  aboard,  and  demanded  pipes 
and  other  things  they  faw ;  and  it  was  with  much  difficulty,  by  giving 
them  a  little,  that  I  got  rid  of  them,  and  proceeded  on  my  journey. 
When  1  returned,  the  boatmen  told  me  I  might  go  afhore  and  fee  the 
ruins ;  but  I  was  contented  with  making  the  beft  obfervations  I  could  from 
the  water,  fufpecting  that  the  people  of  the  country  knowing  my  boat, 
might  have  lain  in  ambufhj  and  if  they  had  caught  me  afhore,  would 
at  leaft  have  plunder'd  us,  if  not  detained  me,  till  they  might  have  a  large 
fum  for  my  ranfom ;  the  people  here  being  very  little  fubject  to  any  go- 
vernment. We  went  on  and  came  to  the  ifles  Alakiah  and  Manfunah, 
both  of  them  fine  fruitful  fpots;  the  former  having  a  village  on  it;  and 
the  country  on  the  eaft  is  well  cultivated :  Higher  up,  the  hills  to  the  weft 
ftretch  towards  the  Nile  in  pretty  high  clifts,  and  on  one  of  the  hills  over 
the  river,  there  is  a  fquare  tower,  which  I  obferved,  leffens  as  it  rifes ;  and 
they  fay,  it  is  an  antient  work.  We  after  came  to  a  fandy  ifle;  at  the 
end  of  it  are  feveral  fmall  rocks,  which  are  the  firft  I  faw  in  the  Nile: 
Going  a  little  further,  on  the  twenty  firft  in  the  evening,  we  arrived  at 
Affouan. 

ffl\zm  Hift.  Animal.  X. 

rJx<Ti  KctAxvToiv  etvlw  ei  rgifyo^vai  cv  i<xX%  Aipvxtf  rou$    c.  21.  Dc  crocodiJis, 

CHAP. 


2 


n5  OBSERVATIONS 

CHAP.  V. 

Of  Assouan,  Syene  under  the  Tropic,  Elephan- 
tine, the  Quarries  of  Granite,  the  Cataracls,  PhyLjE, 
and  the  borders  of  E  t  h  i  o  p  i  a. 

Affouan.  \  SSOUAN  is  a  poor  fmall  town,  with  a  fort  of  fortrefs,  or  rather 
J^\_  barrack  for  janizaries  under  their  governor.  Thefe  foldiers  have  in 
reality,  the  command  of  the  country.  There  are  only  two  Chriftians  in 
this  place,  one  the  fecretary  of  the  Caimacam,  the  other  a  fervant  of  the 
Aga's.  I  waited  on  the  Aga  of  the  janizaries  with  letters  from  Muftapha, 
Aga  of  the  janizaries  at  Girge,  and  from  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout;  he 
treated  me  with  coffee,  and  made  me  a  prefent  of  a  lamb,  and  I  fent  him 
a  prefent  of  rice,  tobacco,  coffee  and  fome  other  things.  He  was  fo  civil 
as  to  fend  two  janizaries  to  guard  the  boat,  and  invited  me  to  take  a 
lodging  in  an  apartment  that  belonged  to  his  houfe,  but  feparate  from  it. 
The  Chriftian,  fecretary  of  the  Caimaicam,  or  civil  governor,  came  to  me 
and  fignified  that  I  fhould  make  his  mafter  a  prefent ;  but  the  people  and 
janizaries  in  and  about  the  boat  fufpedHng  him,  afked  what  he  faid,  and 
ordered  him  to  go  out  of  the  boat,  there  being  a  jealoufy  between  the 
military  and  civil  power :  This  coming  to  the  Aga's  ears,  he  fent  me  word 
I  had  no  need  to  make  prefents  to  any  body ;  and  when  I  went  to  wait 
on  him,  he  repeated  the  fame,  and  that  he  would  take  me  under  his 
protection,  fo  that  no  one  mould  injure  me,  and  I  removed  to  the  lodg- 
ings he  allotted  me.  A  Turk  who  was  here  on  the  part  of  Ofman  Bey, 
to  colled  fome  taxes,  had  come  to  the  boat,  very  kindly  offered  his  ad- 
vice on  all  occafions,  came  and  vifited  me,  and  brought  me  a  prefent  of 
twelve  pidgeons  and  fome  dates :  Some  other  Turks  came  to  fee  me,  and 
one,  as  a  token  of  refpedt,  brought  me  fo  trifling  a  prefent  as  a  bunch  of 
radifhes.    The  Aga  alfo  came  to  fee  me. 

On  the  height  over  Affouan  are  the  ruins  of  the  antient  Syene  which 
is  exactly  under  the  tropic  of  Cancer.  The  prefent  fortrefs,  which  has 
two  or  three  flight  walls  round  it,  of  no  more  ftrength  than  a  common 
garden  fence,  is  to  the  fouth  of  the  prefent  town,  which  is  on  a  gentle 
riling  from  the  river,  and  extends  to  a  height  that  is  over  the  water,  that 
I  fhould  think  was  the  north  end  of  the  antient  Syene,  the  principal  part  of 
which  feems  to  have  been  on  a  lower  hill  to  the  fouth,  though  very  high 
from  the  river,  and  extended  to  a  hill  ftill  further  fouth,  higher  than 
the  other,  and  ftretching  further  to  the  weft,  being  a  rock  of  red  granite, 
and  full  of  ruins  of  unburnt  brick,  which  we  may  fuppofe  to  be  the  re- 
mains of  Affouan,  of  the  middle  ages. 

Syene.  Syene,  and  particularly  the  antient  forts  there,  are  mentioned  by  Pliny  as 

in  a  peninfula :  Whether  this  defcription  may  agree  with  a  hill  to  the  north, 
that  is  to  the  weft  of  the  prefent  fort,  which  has  water  on  three  fides  of  it; 
or  whether  a  foffee  might  be  cut  through  the  lower  ground  on  the  north  and 
fouth  fides  of  the  fite  of  the  antient  Syene,  and  fo  make  it  a  fort  of  peninfu- 

c  'H  3  2t^v>;,  x,  >J  'EteQavlm,  w'  f$  &n  T  oawv  -Is    exaff«  isgou  KvalffJ^,  ^  Net  AofitT&tov.     Strabo.  xvii. 
Ai&ozrw,  ii,  1?  Aiyvnln  sra'Aic"  »j  §' hi  t»  N«Aw  arfo-    p.  8  J  7' 

la; 


ON    EGYPT.  117 

la ;  it  is  not  eafy  to  determine.  Going  further  to  the  lower  ground,  between 
the  two  hills  near  the  river  to  the  fouth  weft,  I  faw  two  pillars  of  granite 
ftanding,  and  two  fort  of  extraordinary  triangular  pillars  with  their  bafe 
lying  down,  of  which  I  have  given  a  draught  in  the  firft  plate  of  co- 
lumns. I  conjeclured  that  poffibly  folding  doors  might  turn  on  the  two 
half  rounds  of  them.  Nearer  the  river  I  obferved  two  oblong  fquare  granite 
pillars,  all  which  may  be  the  remains  of  fome  antient  temple.  About 
the  middle,  between  the  river  and  the .  brow  of  the  hilt  to  the  eaft,  I 
found  the  building  which  poffibly  might  be  the  obfervatory,  built  over 
the  famous  well,  for  making  aftronomical  obfervations,  which  is  fo  parti- 
cularly defcrib'd  by  Strabo  c ;  of  this  building  I  have  given  an  exacft  draw- 
ing in  the  forty-eighth  plate:  A.  is  the  plan;  B.  the  front;  and  C.  the  fe- 
dtion.  I  imagine  that  the  holes  at  top,  which  are  much  larger  below  than 
above,  were  in  order  to  try  the  experiment  in  relation  to  the  fhadows  at 
noon  day,  as  mentioned  by  Strabo.  The  building  fronts  to  the  eaft,  and 
whether  the  windows  on  each  fide  could  be  of  any  particular  ufe  in  an 
obfervatory  of  this  kind,  I  cannot  fay;  but  it  is  to  be  particularly  re- 
mark'd,  that  the  windows  in  the  inner  room  are  not  placed  oppofite  to  one 
another.  Strabo  gives  an  account  that  there  was  a  garrifon  here  of  three 
Roman  cohorts. 

From  viewing  the  ruins  of  the  antient  Syene,  I  went  about  a  mile  Quarries  of 
fouth  eaft  to  the  granite  quarries ;  all  the  country  to  the  eaft,  the  iflands  s"mte' 
and  bed  of  the  Nile,  being  red  granite,  which  is  the  Thebaic  ftone  men- 
tioned by  Herodotus;  the  quarries  are  not  worked  in  deep,  but  the  ftone  is 
hewn  out  of  the  fides  of  the  low  hills.  I  faw  fome  columns  marked  out 
in  the  quarries,  and  fhaped  on  two  fides,  particularly  a  long  fquare  one, 
which  might  be  defigned  for  an  obelifk  ;  they  feem  to  have  worked  in 
round  the  ftones  with  a  narrow  tool,  and  when  the  ftones  were  almoft 
feparated,  there  is  reafon  to  think  they  forced  them  out  of  their  beds 
with  large  wedges,  of  which  there  are  great  figns  in  the  quarries  in  all 
parts;  in  fome  places  I  obferved  channels  mark'd  out  about  three  inches 
wide,  and  holes  cut  in  thofe  channels  at  certain  diftances,  as  if  for  their 
chifels  to  go  in,  fo  that  probably  they  worked  down  with  the  chifels  at 
the  bottom  and  on  one  fide  of  the  ftone,  and  then  forced  the  ftone  out 
of  its  bed  with  wedges.  I  could  not  find  any  other  ground  why  fome 
perfons  have  affirmed  that  there  are  pyramids  here,  but  certain  quarries 
cut  out  into  fteps  up  the  fides  of  the  hills,  which  may  have  caufed  ig- 
norant people  to  take  them  for  the  remains  of  pyramids,  as  fome  of  the 
pyramids  are  built  in  that  manner. 

Oppofite  to  Syene  is  the  ifland  Elephantine,  in  which  there  was  a  city  Elephantine, 
of  that  name  s.  The  ifland  is  about  a  mile  long,  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
broad  to  the  fouth,  ending  in  a  point  at  the  north ;  there  was  a  temple  to 
Cnuphis  in  this  ifland,  and  a  Nilometer  to  meafure  the  rife  of  the  Nile  ; 
on  it  are  remains  of  a  fmall  temple,  of  which  1  have  given  the  plan  D.  in 
the  forty  eighth  plate.  Before  the  temple  is  a  ftatue,  fitting  with  the  hands 
acrofs  on  the  breaft,  being  about  eight  feet  high,  with  a  lituus  in  each 
hand,  which  is  particular,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  drawing  I  have  given  of  it. 

£r£e/y«f  rgoffac,  k,  Stan  tw  Tg07riK«i  xuxAw  usrOKmliW  SI     Qgx&t  Strabo,  ibid. 

TaVoi  Strabo,  i.  xvii.  p.  817,  e  See  c. 

Vol.  1.  H  h  There 


n8 


OBSERVATIONS 


There  is  a  wall  built  round  part  of  it  about  a  foot  from  the  wall  of  the 
temple,  there  being  juft  room  enough  for  a  perfon  to  enter,  which  pro- 
bably was  kept  concealed,  and  might  be  built,  as  obferved  before,  to  car- 
ry on  fome  arts  to  deceive  the  people.  On  the  wall  before  the  temple  is 
a  Greek  infcription,  which  is  defaced  in  many  parts,  but  I  have  given  it  at 
the  end  with  other  infcriptions.  In  the  middle  of  the  ifland  there  are  re- 
mains of  one  fide  of  a  grand  gate  of  red  granite,  finely  adorn'd  with  hiero- 
glyphics, which  I  fuppofe  to  have  been  one  of  the  entrances  to  the  temple 
of  Cnuphis,  of  which  the  above-mention'd  building  might  be  a  part.  The 
earth  is  raifed  up  very  much  about  this  gate,  and  all  over  the  fouth  end 
of  the  ifland,  probably  by  the  rubbifh  of  a  town  of  the  middle  ages  that 
might  be  on  the  ifland,  as  there  is  now  a  very  fmall  village  on  it.  The 
fouth  end  of  the  ifland  is  high,  being  a  rock  of  red  granite,  and  on  the 
eaft  fide  are  great  remains  of  a  high  wall  built  by  the  water  fide  with  win- 
dows on  it,  of  which  I  have  given  a  view  in  the  eighth  plate  at  Y.  It  is  very 
probable  that  all  this  part  of  the  ifland  was  defended  by  fuch  a  wall  againft 
the  violent  current,  at  the  time  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile. 

About  this  ifle  there  are  feveral  fmaller  iflands,  as  two  to  the  weft,  and 
four  to  the  fouth,  which  are  high  above  the  water,  and  alfo  feveral  large 
rocks  of  red  granite ;  two  of  them  appear  to  have  been  work'd  as  quar- 
ries, as  well  as  the  fouth  end  of  Elephantine.  Out  of  one  of  thefe  iflands, 
probably,  that  entire  room  was  cut  of  one  ftone,  that  was  carried  to  Sais, 
taking,  it  may  be,  the  advantage  of  the  fituation  of  the  rock,  fo  as  to  have 
only  the  labour  of  feparating  the  bottom  of  it  from  the  quarry,  and  having 
firft  probably  hollow'd  the  ftone  into  a  room  of  the  dimenlions  defcribed 
when  1  fpoke  of  Sais. 

I  crofted  over  to  the  Libyan  fide,  on  the  fouth  weft  of  the  ifland,  where 
there  is  a  fandy  valley,  which  probably  was  the  bounds  on  the  weft  fide, 
between  Ethiopia  and  Egypt.  Going  about  a  mile  in  this  valley,  I  came 
to  a  large  ruinous  uninhabited  monaftery,  which  I  conjectured  was  dedi- 
cated  to  St.  George,  his  pidure,  as  big  as  life,  being  painted  on  the  walls ; 
and  there  are  feveral  other  bad  paintings  in  the  church,  and  fome  Copti 
infcriptions  about  the  walls.  The  eaft  fide  of  the  Nile  was  inhabited  by 
Arabs,  as  far  as  Meroe ;  but  Herodotus  fpeaks  of  Egypt  as  beginning  at 
Elephantine,  and  fays  that  the  Ethiopians  inhabited  one  half  of  the  ifland  h, 
tho'  Ptolemy  takes  into  Egypt  the  trad  call'd  Dodecafchcenus,  on  the  eaft 
fide,  near  a  degree  farther  fouth,  in  which  country  Metacompfo  feems  to 
have  been,  which  was  forty-four  minutes  fouth  of  Syene,  and  he  feems  to 
put  Pfelcis  alfo  in  Egypt,  oppofite  to  it ;  for  Egypt  on  the  eaft  fide  pro- 
bably extended  about  as  far  as  where  De  Lifle's  map  makes  the  Nile  to  run 
to  the  north,  after  it  has  taken  its  courfe  a  confiderable  way  to  the  eaft. 
It  is  indeed  probable  that  the  Nile,  as  it  runs  to  the  eaft,  and  the  moun- 
tains there,  were  the  moft  antient  bounds  of  Egypt,  as  they  are  at  prefent 
of  the  Grand  Signor's  dominions,  about  the  caftle  of  Ibrahim;  fo  that 
Egypt  feems  to  have  ended  about  Elephantine  on  the  weft,  tho'  it  extended 
further  to  the  fouth  on  the  eaft  fide '. 

Returning 

■"'OmiBfi  j|  tb  xvi  *B>*!p*rrkiK  «»«  'AiSi'mhs  Sin,  '  Above  Syene,  in  the  country  called  Dode- 
^  rns  to  j^io-iJ,  to  $1  riptw  'AiyuVhoi.  Herodo-  cafchcenus,  Ptolemy  mentions  Hierafycaminos, 
tus,  1.  ii.  c.  29.  Phila:,  and  Metacompfo,  oppofite  to  Pfelcis. 

Hiera- 


ON  EGYPT. 

Returning  to  Aflbuan,  I  went  afhoar  under  the  rocks  to  the  eaft,  oppo- 
fite  to  the  fouth  end  of  Elephantine.  The  rocks  here  are  very  high,  on 
which  the  antient  Syerie  was  built ;  on  one  of  them  I  faw  hieroglyphics 
as  reprefented  at  E.  in  the  forty-eighth  plate,  and  the  middle  figure  as 
fitting  in  a  niche,  and  much  defaced.  The  following  account  of  fome 
accidents  that  happen'd  to  me  there,  may  give  fome  infight  into  the  na- 
ture of  thefe  people ;  for  by  the  greedinefs  of  thofe  that  went  with  me, 
and  by  the  imprudence  of  my  people,  I  had  like  to  have  been  embroil'd 
with  the  Aga.  I  had  not  given  exactly  the  fame  prefent  to  an  inferior 
officer,  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Aga,  that  1  had  given  to  the  Aga's  bro- 
ther, who  was  in  a  greater  poft ;  and  coming  afterwards  to  demand  the 
lame  prefent  I  had  given  to  the  other,  I  complied  in  part  with  his  requeft. 
On  this  my  fervant  talk'd  to  a  favourite  janizary  of  the  Aga's  he  had  ap- 
pointed to  be  with  me,  as  if  he  was  a  fpy,  and  had  inform'd  what  pre- 
fents  I  had  made.  This  difgufted  the  Aga,  as  well  as  my  taking  a  perfon 
with  me  that  did  not  belong  to  him  ;  fo  the  Aga  fent  for  my  fervant,  and 
told  him  I  might  ftay  as  long  as  I  pleafed,  but  that  I  fhould  fee  nothing 
more.  I  found  alfo  that  he  was  not  fatisfied  with  the  prefent  I  made 
him  ;  for  afterwards  the  uncle  of  the  Aga,  a  good  old  man,  came  to 
me,  and  intimated  that  thofe  that  came  there  muft  be  liberal,  that  I 
fhould  fee  every  thing,  but  that  it  mud  be  in  the  company  of  the  Aga's 
relations.  The  Turk  I  mention'd  before,  came  after  this  happen'd  to  fee 
me,  who  I  found  was  fo  difagreeable  to  the  Aga,  that  he  order'd  him  to 
leave  the  houfe,  giving  it  this  turn,  that  he  would  not  permit  the  people 
to  come  and  teize  me  for  prefents.  I  took  it  in  the  light  they  would  have 
it,  and  defired  the  favour  of  the  Aga  to  come  and  drink  coffee  with  me, 
which  he  accordingly  did,  and  the  whole  affair  feem'd  to  be  made  up  ; 
and  yet  notwithftanding,  the  next  morning,  when  I  was  to  go  abroad,  the 
Aga  fent  to  my  man,  and  told  him  the  prefent  I  had  made  was  fmall, 
that  I  ought  to  have  given  him  a  piece  of  cloth,  and  that  if  I  had  none, 
two  fequins,  worth  about  a  guinea,  muft  be  brought  to  him,  otherwife  I 
fhould  fee  no  more  ;  fo  I  fent  him  what  he  demanded,  and  then  I  was  at 
liberty  to  do  what  1  pleafed.  From  Aflbuan  I  rid  to  Phik,  palling  near 
the  quarries,  and  going  along  the  road  that  feems  to  have  been  made  level 
by  art between  little  hills  and  rocks  of  red  granite :  Some  of  them  are 

Hierafycaminos,  I  apprehend,  fhould  be  put  laft,  It  is  probable  that  the  two  or  three  ruins  that 

as  it  is  in  the  itinerary,  and  may  be  Derra,  derived  have  been  found  above  Philse,  may  one  of  them 

from  Hiera.    On  the  weft  fide  the  itinerary  has  be  of  Pfelcis,  a  place  perhaps  of  more  confe- 

the  places  in  this  order.  quence  than  the  others,  being  mention'd  by  both 

Contra  Suenem  authors    another  might  be  the  ruins  of  Meta- 

Parembolem                     xvi.  compfo,  the  only  place  except  Pfelcis  and  Hiera- 

fxnzi                             ii.  fycaminos,  that  Ptolemy  mentions ;  tho'  the  itine- 

Taphis                           xjv#  rary  has  many  other  places,  and  poflibly  Meta- 

Talmis         •                 viii.  compfo  may  have  another  name  in  the  itinerary ; 

Tutzis      .                     XX.  f°r  as  Ptolemy  fpeaks  of  it,  we  may  fuppofe  that 

Pfelcim         «  ■       xii.  11  was  a  confiderable  town.    See  Strabo,  1.  xvii. 

Corte                              iv.  P-8'9- 

Hierafycaminon                 iv.  1  Strabo  fays  that  the  road  was  through  a  very 

_     ,       .....      ,     ,      .    ,  plain  country,  Si  iu.axi  s<piSe*  vsSix,  tho'  a  rough- 
On  the  eaft  fide  it  has  the  places  in  this  manner.  er  face  of  things  can  hardly  be  imagined  ;  how- 
Contra  Pielcim                xi.  ever  his  words  may  be  favourably  interpreted,  if 
Contra  Talmis               xxiv.  the  text  be  corrected  by  making  it  utin,  an  even 
Contra  Taphis                 x.  ground  relating  only  to  the  road. 


Philas 
Syenem  .  


in 


120 


OBSERVATIONS 


in  the  manner  Strabo  defcribes ;  a  rock  ftanding  up  like  a  pillar,  and  a 
large  rock  on  it,  hieroglyphics  being  cut  on  fome  of  them.  The  outfide 
of  the  granite  is  turned  blackifh,  which  occafion'd  Strabo  to  fpeak  of  them 
as  black  {tones ;  tho'  it  is  much  he  fhould  not  mention  the  granite  quar- 
ries, out  of  which  the  obelilks  were  doubtlefs  cut,  that  were  carried  to 
Rome,  as  fuch  extraordinary  mafter-pieces  of  art,  and  at  fo  great  an 
expence.  The  road  we  went  in  is  divided  into  two  parts,  by  a  mound 
along  the  middle  of  it.  Going  further  on,  I  obferved  the  remains  of  a 
thick  wall  of  unburnt  brick,  ending  at  a  hill  north  of  the  plain,  oppofite 
to  Phils ;  there  being  a  watch  tower  of  the  fame  materials  fouth  of  it,  on 
a  high  rock  of  granite.  This  fence  was  probably  made  by  the  fouthern 
people,  to  defend  themfelves  againft  fome  incurfions,  it  may  be,  of  the 
garrifon  of  Affouan ;  for  we  cannot  fuppofe  it  to  be  a  work  fo  old  as  to 
have  been  built  either  by  the  Ethiopians,  or  as  a  defence  againft  them,  a- 
bout  the  time  that  they  made  incurfions  into  the  Thebaid,  and  attack'd 
the  garrifon  of  Phils  and  Elephantine,  and  overturn'd  the  ftatues  of  Csfar, 
Phils.  under  the  firft  Roman  governor  iElius  Gallus.  The  ifland  of  Phils  is  high 
and  very  fmall  *,  not  being  above  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  and  half  a 
quarter  broad  ;  it  was  look'd  on  to  be  rather  nearer  to  the  eaft  fide,  and  was 
inhabited  both  by  Ethiopians  ™  and  Egyptians.  The  city  indeed  itfelf 
feems  to  have  been  on  the  eaft  fide,  and  that  there  were  no  other  build- 
ings on  the  ifland,  but  what  related  to  the  temple  ;  for  Diodorus  -  feems 
to  fay  that  no  perfon  but  the  priefts  went  on  the  ifland,  by  reafon  that 
it  was  efteem'd  very  facred,  from  an  opinion  that  Ofiris  was  buried  there; 
fo  that  in  the  Thebaid  there  could  not  be  a  more  folemn  oath  than  to 
fwear  by  the  relicks  of  Ofiris  depofited  in  this  ifland.  This  Deity  we 
may  fuppofe  was  worfhipped  here  under  the  fhape  of  the  Ethiopian  hawk. 
The  whole  ifland  feems  to  have  been  wall'd  round,  fomething  in  the  man- 
ner of  a  modern  fortification  ;  great  part  of  the  wall  ftill  remains,  and 
tho'  I  was  much  hurried,  yet  I  had  reafon  (from  what  I  obferved)  to  repre- 
fent  it  as  may  be  feen  with  the  plan  of  the  temple  in  the  forty-ninth  plate 
at  C.  and  to  conclude  that  there  was  a  grand  entrance  at  the  north  end. 
The  particular  fort  of  Ethiopian  hawk  worfhipped  here,  I  faw  cut  among 
the  hieroglyphics  in  fevcral  parts;  it  is  reprefented  with  a  long  neck,  the 
wings  fpreading  very  wide,  and  a  ferpent  coming  out  from  it,  fomething 
refembling  the  winged  globe.  It  is  probable  this  bird  was  kept  in  the 
middle  room  A.  where  there  is  a  fmall  cell  B.  which  was  probably  made 
for  it,  being  about  three  feet  high.  The  temple  is  near  the  water,  on  the 
weft  fide  of  the  ifland  ;  'tis  built  all  of  freeftone.  The  pillars  on  each 
lide  of  the  court  D.  are  of  the  order  that  may  be  feen  in  the  plate  of  ca- 
pitals under  Phils,  having  over  it  the  head  of  Ifis  every  way,  as  are  the 
fix  laft  pillars  on  each  fide  of  the  grand  area;  the  others,  efpecially  thofe 
in  the  long  area,  have  a  great  variety  of  capitals.  That  court  feems  to 
have  been  an  addition  to  the  temple,  for  the  pillars  on  the  weft  fide  are 
not  finifh'd  ,•  and  whether  it  were  by  accident,  or  on  account  of  the  fhape 
of  the  ifland,  it  is  not  built  in  a  line  with  the  other,  and  in  the  court  D. 
before  it,  the  rooms  to  the  weft  feem  to  have  been  made  to  deceive  the  eye, 

*  PhiJae  inliila  eft  afpera  et  undique  prsenipta.    o-up6<w'v«,  tuiyfc  jt«7oiiti'«v  Ai'ShoVwv  S\  hlyvjpnm 
Seneca,  Quafl.  Nat.  iv.  c.  2.  y,ati^^ats^->  Strabo,  1.  xvii.  p.  8 18. 

m  TS  }\  K«7«p7«'«7ss  pwgov  E?retvw  i»s  ttveu       n  Diodorus,  I.  i.  p.  19. 

that 


Back  of 
Foldout 
Not  Imaged 


ON  EGYPT. 


that  this  great  irregularity  might  not  be  perceived.  There  are  very  large 
colofial  figures  cut  on  the  fouth  fide  of  the  great  pyramidal  gateway.  At 
the  entrance  to  the  eaft,  which  is  near  it,  there  is  an  obelifk  E.  on  eacli 
fide  within;  they  are  of  red  granite,  about  two  feet  fquare.  A  little 
more  to  the  weft  is  a  lyon  on  each  fide  F.  as  I  find  I  took  them  to  be,  tho\ 
if  the  heads  were  broke  off,  they  poflibly  might  have  been  fphinxes.  Be- 
tween the  weft  fide  of  the  grand  area  and  the  water,  there  is  only  a  nar- 
row terrace  with  doors  to  it  from  the  portico,  the  whole  ending  at  the  wa- 
ter to  the  fouth,  with  a  parapet  wall,  at  which  the  two  obelifls  G.  about 
two  feet  and  a  half  fquare,  are  railed  on  their  pedeftals,  as  well  as  two 
fquare  pillars  at  the  end  of  the  colonnade.  The  ifland  is  there  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  high  above  the  water,  and  there  being  a  profpecf  about  a  mile 
fouth  to  the  high  granite  hills,  where  the  Nile  having  made  a  turn,  the 
view  is  terminated  by  thofe  hills  in  a  moft  agreeable  romantic  manner,  all 
together  making  a  noble  and  beautiful  appearance  that  is  very  extraordinary. 
To  the  eaft  of  the  great  temple  at  H.  is  a  beautiful  oblong  fquare  temple, 
■which  is  reprefented  in  a  larger  fcale  in  the  fiftieth  plate;  it  is  open  all 
round,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  front  at  D.  The  capitals  of  the  pillars  may 
be  reckon'd  amongft  the  moft  beautiful  in  Egypt,  and  probably  were  of 
the  laft  invention,  as  they  are  reprefented  in  the  plate  of  capitals  under  the 
.other  title  of  Phils,  being  the  only  capitals  of  that  kind  I  faw  in  Egypt. 
Strabo  °  mentions  that  they  crofted  over  to  the  iftand  on  a  float  made  of 
rods,  like  a  fort  of  bafket  work,  which  I  take  to  have  been  much  the  fame 
fort  as  they  ufe  now,  made  of  palm  boughs  tied  together,  with  the  fhells  of 
pumkins  under  them  to  bear  them  up ;  on  which  they  go  down  the  river, 
and  when  they  return  home,  carry  them  on  their  backs,  which  are  repre- 
fented in  the  eighth  plate.  At  A.  the  man  is  fitting  on  one  of  them,  and 
at  B.  a  perfon  is  carrying  one  on  his  back. 

Returning  I  took  a  view  of  fome  extraordinary  high  rocks  of  granite, 
in  a  regular  figure,  as  reprefented  at  B.  in  the  fiftieth  plate;  on  them  are 
cut  hieroglyphical  inferiptions  and  figures  of  men,  and  they  direcfly  face  the 
north  end  of  the  ifle.  In  our  return  we  went  to  fee  the  famous  catarads  of  Catarafis, 
the  Nile ;  the  hills  lock  in,  and  fhut  up  the  view  of  the  Nile  to  the  north  of 
Phils.  Returning  about  half  a  mile  in  the  way  we  came,  we  went  out  of 
it  to  the  weft,  and  going  about  a  mile,  we  came  to  the  Nile  at  the  port  of 
the  boats  that  come  from  Ethiopia,  where  we  faw  moft  of  the  people 
black.  Here  is  no  village,  only  fome  little  hutts  made  of  mats  and  reeds. 
At  this  place  they  unload  their  goods,  which  are  carried  by  land  to  Af- 
fouan,  and  fo  they  bring  the  goods  by  land  to  this  place,  that  are  brought 
up  to  Aftbuan  from  lower  Egypt.  The  chief  import  here  is  dates,  which 
the  people  of  Aftbuan  buy  both  for  their  own  ufe,  and  alfo  to  fend  into 
the  lower  parts  of  Egypt ;  fo  that  on  the  one  fide  and  the  other,  the  Egyp- 
tian and  Ethiopian  navigation  end  at  the  catarad  *.  I  never  faw  a  more 
rough  face  of  nature  than  at  this  place ;  on  the  eaft  fide  it  is  all  rock,  on 
the  weft  the  hills  are  either  fandy  or  of  black  rocks  :  Above  to  the  fouth 
there  feems  to  be  a  high  rocky  ifland,  and  higher  up  rocky  clifts  on  each 
fide,  and  below  to  the  north  there  are  fo  many  rocks,  that  little  of  the  wa- 

°  Ai<£v$>  3  sir  t-  new  S^n  &d-A!a>v&,  a  3  5sr«x7wu       *  Navigacionis  j*EgyptiaC£  finis.  Plinius  1.  v. 
c-xulaAi'Jwv  ^siTi^yaq  £5-1  intKtpj'ev,  wr'  fejulvaw  2^g-    c.  9. 

irAou'i?.  Strabo  ibid. 

Vol.  I.  I  i  ter 


OBSERVATIONS 

ter  is  feen.  We  went  on  to  the  north,  the  Nile  running  through  the  rocks. 
The  people  knew  I  came  to  fee  the  cataract,  and  flood  ftill ;  I  afk'd  them 
when  we  fhould  come  to  the  cataract,  and  to  my  great  furprize,  they  told 
me,  that  was  the  cataract'.  The  rocks  of  granite  crofs  the  bed  of  the 
Nile;  and  in  three  different  places,  at  fome  diftance  from  one  another,  di- 
vide the  ftream  into  three  parts,  making  three  falls  at  each  of  them.  The 
firft  we  came  to  was  the  leaft  of  all,  I  thought  the  falls  were  not  above 
three  feet.  The  fecond,  a  little  lower,  winds  round  a  large  rock  or  ifland, 
which  to  the  north  may  be  about  twelve  feet  high,  and  they  fay  at  high 
Nile  the  water  runs  over  this  rock ;  but  fuppofing  the  Nile  to  be  then  five 
feet  higher  below  the  rock,  the  fall  may  be  about  feven  or  eight  feet;  to 
the  eaft  and  weft  of  it  runs  a  ftream.  To  the  weft  are  other  rocks,  and  a- 
gain  to  the  weft  of  that  there  was  a  third  ftream,  but  at  high  Nile  thefe 
two  ftreams  unite.  This  feems  to  be  the  cataract  defcribed  by  Strabo,  which, 
he  fays,  is  a  rocky  height  in  the  middle  of  the  river;  the  upper  part  of  it 
is  fmooth,  fo  as  that  the  water  could  run  on  it,  but  ended  in  a  precipice, 
down  which  the  water  fell;  it  had  a  channel,  he  fays,  on  each  fide,  by 
which  boats  could  fail,  that  is,  as  we  muft  fuppofe,  at  high  Nile,  when 
the  two  weftern  branches  might  be  united.  Sailing  over  this  rock  they  come 
to  the  very  fall  of  the  cataract,  and  the  water  carried  them  down  the  pre- 
cipice with  fafety.  Going  fomewhat  lower  to  the  place  where  the  road 
to  Afibuan  turns  off  from  the  river  to  the  north  eaft,  I  oblerved  a  third 
cataract,  the  fall  of  which  appear'd  to  me  to  be  greater  than  the  others, 
and  I  judged  the  middle  fall  to  be  about  five  feet.  As  to  the  catadupes, 
thofe  high  cataracts  that  fell  with  fuch  a  noife  that  they  made  the  inha- 
bitants deaf,  I  take  all  thofe  accounts  to  be  fabulous  i.  There  is  another 
cataract  at  lbrim,  which  they  call  twelve  days  journey  from  this  place; 
fome  fay  alfo  that  there  is  a  third  cataract;  and  others,  that  there  are 
feven  mountains  and  feven  cataracts. 

Here  I  faw  the  corn  in  ear  in  January,  and  the  coloquintida  full  grown, 
and  the  little  apple  call'd  Nabok,  near  ripe,  which  in  Delta  was  ripe  in 
November ;  and  I  fuppofe  that  in  the  lower  parts  of  Egypt,  the  time  of 
growth  for  fuch  fruit,  is  after  the  overflow  of  the  Nile,  but  that  here  it 
is  after  the  great  heats  are  paft,  which  muft  hinder  the  growth.  I  faw 
them  driving  the  camels  loaded  with  fenna,  and  they  told  me  that  a 
camel's  load  coft  about  two  hundred  medins,  that  is  about  twelve  fhillings 
and  fix  pence.  The  Pafha  grants  a  licence  to  one  perfon,  generally  a  Jew, 
to  buy  all  the  fenna,  who  is  obliged  to  take  all  that  is  brought  to  Cairo, 
and  no  one  elfe  can  purchafe  it;  one  Englifh  merchant  only  has  the  pri- 
vilege of  buying  it  of  him  ;  and  fo  the  price  is  very  confiderably  raifed. 

When  I  returned  to  A.ffouan,  the  relations  of  the  foldier  I  had  brought 
with  me  from  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout,  fent  me  a  fupper  ready  drefs'd, 
which  is  a  piece  of  civility  and  refpect ;  but  what  is  chiefly  intended,  is 
to  get  a  prefent  in  return,  of  greater  value :  And  the  laft  evening  the  Aga 

p  MlKf fa  J'uVsf  1?  'EAep«w?iW  h't»  o  /*ik£oV  xuraf-     icu  o-uv  aJur?  «VaSe7f.  Strabo  Vll.  p.  8 1 7. 

paxljjc,  pUov  t  7ro1«f*ov  s^wcftj!  i-Jf  6®£v(,       q  Ubi  Nilus  ad  ilia  qua;  catadupa  nominantur, 

;?nV< J©-  fjjo  <Zra5i,,  u;t  SiyfAcu  t  si7aptV  ti\i j«V«  priecipitat  ex  altiffimis  montibus,  ea  gens,  qua; 

J'  as  x^^vov,  k«9"  *  KctUftnywlix*  ii  2 tualt^u-  ilium  locum  accolit,  propter  magnitudinem  foni- 

Sev  j  argj?  T£      p'h^ok,  0  f*«Ai?«  it,  avairhav  tus  fenfu  audiendi  caret.   M.  T.  Cicero.  Jomn. 

5m  t  KwTiip'f'axV,  Scipionis,  c.  5. 

Kj  ludSvlau  pilot  1?  irx«!pf;j  cBri  T  xftj^wi'oV,  ^  ffugav- 

fent 


ON  EGYPT. 

fent  me  likewife  a  fupper  of  pilaw,  a  foup  of  barley  with  the  husks  taken 
off,  like  rice,  and  goats  flefh.  boil'd  and  well  pepper'd,  and  hot  bread; 
and  defir'd  that  what  was  left  might  be  given  to  the  boatmen,  and  not 
to  his  people ;  but  his  own  dependants  came,  notwithftanding.  The  next 
day,  the  twenty-fixth  of  January,  1  had  all  my  goods  put  on  board,  and 
took  leave  of  the  Aga,  fome  of  his  relations  attending  me  to  the  boat. 
The  wind  riling,  we  could  not  begin  our  voyage,  fo  I  paffed  the  day  in 
my  boat,  feveral  people  coming  to  fee  me,  moft  of  them  begging  fome- 
thing  or  other  of  me.  A  genteel  man,  brother  of  the  Caimacam  of 
Girge,  came  to  fee  me,  whom  I  had  feen  at  the  Aga's ;  for  1  was  in  a 
country  where  I  thought  I  met  with  a  friend,  if  I  could  fee  a  Turk,  or 
one  of  the  middle  parts  of  Egypt;  he  feem'd  to  be  a  good  fort  of  man, 
and  faid  if  I  had  come  to  him  at  firft,  I  fbould  not  have  been  ufed  in 
that  manner,  and  he  would  have  fent  a  man  with  me  that  would  have 
fhew'd  me  all,  though  I  knew  he  had  it  not  in  his  power  to  proteft  me, 
being  only  a  fort  of  a  collector  of  the  cuftoms  here,  and  probably  his 
chief  intention  was  to  fee  if  I  would  make  him  a  prefent.  The  Chri- 
ftian  fecretary  of  the  Caimacam  put  into  my  hands,  with  a  letter,  a  fum 
of  money  to  the  value  of  three  or  four  pounds,  a  great  fum  in  that 
country,  and  for  fuch  a  man,  to  be  deliver'd  as  he  directed  in  Akmim  ; 
a  truft  he  would  hardly  have  repofed  in  one  of  his  own  people  that  were 
going  to  Cairo;  and  I  was  a  perfon  going  out  of  the  country,  whom  he 
would  certainly  never  fee  more;  he  prefented  me  at  the  fame  time  with 
a  live  fheep,  and  I  made  him  a  prefent  in  return. 


CHAP.  VI. 

From  the  Cataracts  down  to  Grand  Cairo  and  Da- 
mi  a  T  A. 

/"\N  the  twenty  feventh  of  January  we  left  Affouan,  with  a  very  cold 
wind  that  was  not  favourable,  and  were  obliged  to  lie  by  for 
fome  time  on  the  eaft,  about  a  league  below  the  town.  They  have  in  all 
thefe  parts  a  great  fcarcity  of  fuel;  fo  that  they  commonly  ufe  either 
the  reeds  of  Indian  wheat,  or  cow  dung!  dried,  the  latter  is  the  fuel  in 
general  of  the  poor  people  of  Egypt ;  but  the  greateft  fcarcity  is  in  all  the 
country  above  Cous.  We  made  very  little  way  this  day  and  the  next.  I 
obferved  they  draw  water  here  to  their  land  with  four  buckets  one  over 
another.  On  the  thirtieth  we  paffed  by  Com-Ombo:  I  faw  what  they 
call  the  wild  goat,  of  a  reddifh  colour,  and  white  behind,  which  I  con- 
jectured to  be  the  antelope.  We  were  obliged  to  flop  by  the  wind ;  but 
in  the  evening  we  went  a  little  lower,  to  be  near  the  Cafhif,  for  greater 
fecurity,  who  was  flill  in  thefe  parts.  On  the  thirty-firft  I  took  a  view 
of  Hajar  Silcily,  and  arrived  at  Etfou  in  the  evening  On  the  firft  of 
February  I  experienced  the  great  honour  and  fidelity  of  the  worthy  Sheik 
of  that  place.  I  obferved  here  that  they  draw  water  out  of  the  river 
with  the  Perfian  wheel.  On  the  fecond  I  came  to  the  wall,  which  I 
took  to  be  the  city  of  the  Hawks.  I  went  afhore  to  examine  it,  and  found 


OBSERVATIONS 

a  deep  dry  channel  above  it,  fo  that  the  wall  feemed  to  have  ferved  for 
two  purpofes,  to  turn  the  water  into  the  canal,  and  alfo  for  a  quay  for 
the  veffels  to  lie  at,  for  there  are  remains  of  flairs  down  the  fide  of  it;  the 
wall  is  fourteen  feet  wide,  being  built  with  four  large  ftones  in  breadth, 
in  ten  tiers;  about  the  middle  of  the  upper  fide  it  fets  in  eighteen 
inches,  and  what  remains  of  it  is  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  feet  long  ; 
it  is  entire  at  the  weft  end,  but  the  earth  is  wafh'd  away  from  it ;  the 
eaft  end  is  ruin'd,  fo  that  it  might  have  gone  further  out  into  the  water.  On 
the  weft  fide  a  little  lower  are  remains  of  a  wall  of  no  great  extent,  but 
pretty  high,  appearing  like  the  ruins  of  fome  tower.  We  arrived  at  Efne  in 
the  afternoon :  I  carried  my  letters  to  the  two  Sherifs,  or  relations  of  Maho- 
met, faw  the  church  and  the  temple  near  the  town.  On  the  third  I  went 
to  the  temple  three  miles  north  of  the  town,  and  to  the  convent  a  mile 
fouth  of  it.  In  the  afternoon  we  purfued  our  voyage,  and  going  all 
night,  were  oppofite  to  Jebelin  in  the  morning.  The  Sheik  of  Cous,  who 
had  afforded  me  his  protection  on  the  eaft  fide  of  Thebes,  was  encamped 
near  Selamia,  and  1  faw  a  great  cavalcade  of  his  people  to  the  eaft.  We 
went  afhore  at  Erment,  and  viewed  the  antiquities  there.  On  the  fifth 
we  paffed  Luxerein,  and  flopped  at  Gurnou,  where  we  ftaid  till  the  k- 
venth  in  the  evening,  when  we  found  it  was  time  to  leave  fuch  bad  peo- 
ple, and  failing  all  night,  we  arrived  at  Kept.  I  ftaid  here  two  days 
to  fee  the  antiquities,  and  to  get  medals  and  other  pieces  of  antiquity, 
which  they  brought  to  the  boat.  One  of  the  Mahometans  I  had  a  letter 
to,  came  to  me  the  laft  day,  and  would  conduct  me  abroad  to  fee  fome 
things  the  other  had  not  led  me  to,  and  returned  with  me  to  the  boat, 
and  earneftly  requefted  me  not  to  depart  fo  fuddenly,  but  to  ftay  till  I  had 
heard  further  from  him,  and  in  fome  time  after  he  very  kindly  fent  me  a 
pefent  of  a  kid,  and  two  balkets  of  bread.  We  arrived  at  Kena  in  the 
night ;  on  the  tenth  I  walked  to  that  town,  faw  their  manufacture  of 
earthen  ware,  and  went  on  to  Dendera,  and  from  thence  to  Amara,  and 
faw  the  great  antiquities  of  Tentyra. 

On  the  eleventh  we  arrived  at  the  port  of  Badjoura,  and  went  to  the 
convent  of  Furfhout.  I  waited  on  the  great  Sheik,  whom  I  found  fitting 
with  the  Mahometan  prieft,  and  eating  beans  boyled  in  the  fhells.  I  deli- 
vered him  my  letter  from  the  Sheik  of  Etfou ;  he  asked  me,  fmiling,  whe- 
ther the  people  attempted  to  detain  us,  and  if  they  tore  my  book;  and, 
laughing,  laid,  they  thought  we  were  in  fearch  of  treafures.  I  returned 
to  the  boat ;  we  fail'd  all  night,  and  on  the  twelfth  we  arrived  at  Girge, 
and  went  to  the  convent.  The  Bey  was  encamped  to  the  fouth  of  the 
city  ;  when  I  went  firft  to  the  camp,  he  was  in  town  at  the  Harem  with 
the  ladies,  but  he  foon  came  on  horfe-back,  attended  by  about  eight 
flaves ;  the  mulick  play'd  in  the  camp  on  his  arrival,  for  about  a  quarter  of 
an  hour.  I  went  to  his  magnificent  tent ;  he  fat  on  the  fopha  in  the  corner 
on  the  right  hand  as  one  enters ;  was  a  perfon  of  a  fine  countenance  with 
a  graceful  fmile,  but  when  he  pleafed,  could  put  on  a  ftern  and  majeftic 
look,  and  I  thought  his  manner  moft  like  that  of  our  great  men  in  Eu- 
rope of  any  I  had  feen  in  Turkey.  I  delivered  him  the  letter  I  had  from 
Ofman  Bey,  and  my  fervant  placed  my  prefent  before  him,  about  a  dozen 
boxes  of  French  prunellas,  and  a  fine  covered  glafs  vafe  for  ilirbet  Fie 
received  me  very  civily,  dcfired  me  to  fit,  and  ordered  coffee.  I  requeft- 


ON  EGYPT.  125 

ed  the  favour  of  him  to  give  me  fome  letters  to  the  governors  under  him. 
He  asked  where  we  had  been,  and  fmiling,  demanded  if  I  had  found  any 
treafures.  I  went  to  the  fecretary's  tent,  where  the  letters  were  writ,  and 
brought  them  to  the  Bey  to  put  his  feal  to  them. 

From  Girge  I  went  to  El-Berbi,  where,  as  mention'd  before,  there  was 
a  temple,  and  I  fuppofe  this  place  to  have  been  the  antient  Abydus.  When 
I  returned  to  the  boat,  in  order  to  depart,  I  was  informed  they  had  taken 
away  the  oars,  demanding  a  duty  of  about  fifteen  millings:  I  fent  to  the 
governor  about  it,  and  found  they  had  demanded  three  times  as  much 
as  their  due.  We  came  to  Menfhieh,  where  the  men  would  ftay  all  night 
with  their  families.  On  the  fourteenth  in  the  morning  we  arrived  at  Ak- 
mim,  where  I  went  to  the  convent,  and  waited  on  the  Prince,  who  gave 
me  fome  letters  I  wanted  in  the  way  to  Cairo.  On  the  fixteenth  I  went 
to  fee  the  convents  I  have  defcribed  to  the  eaft.  I  had  agreed  with  the 
boatmen  fo  far  by  the  day,  and  here  I  made  a  new  agreement,  giving 
them  about  five  pounds  to  carry  me  to  Cairo,  and  to  flop  where  I  pleas'd, 
except  that  on  the  eaft  fide  we  were  to  go  afhore  only  where  they  fhould 
think  it  fafe.  All  my  friends  attended  me  to  the  river,  making  me  pre- 
fents  of  fheep  and  bread,  and  I  fet  out  for  Cairo  on  the  fixteenth.  The 
next  day  early  in  the  morning  we  came  to  Raigny,  where  the  religious 
Sheik  of  the  famous  ferpent  called  Heredy,  was  at  the  fide  of  the  river  Serpent  He- 
to  receive  us;  either  feeing  our  boat,  or  having  had  an  account  of  ourredy' 
coming  from  Akmim.  I  carried  the  letter  of  the  Prince  of  Akmim  to 
the  Sheik  of  the  village,  who  entertained  us  with  a  grand  collation.  He 
went  with  us  to  the  grotto  of  the  ferpent  that  has  been  fo  much  talk'd 
of,  under  the  name  of  Sheik  Heredy,  of  which  I  fhall  give  a  particular 
account,  in  order  to  fhew  the  folly,  credulity  and  fuperftition  of  thefe 
people,  for  the  Chriftians  have  faith  in  it  as  well  as  the  Turks.  We  went 
afcending  between  the  rocky  mountains  for  about  half  a  mile,  and  came 
to  a  part  where  the  valley  opens  wider.  On  the  right  is  a  mofque  built 
with  a  dome  over  it,  againft  the  fide  of  the  rock,  like  a  Sheik's  burial 
place ;  in  it  there  is  a  large  cleft  in  the  rock,  out  of  which  they  fay  the 
ferpent  comes;  there  is  a  tomb  in  the  mofque,  in  the  Turkifh  manner, 
that  they  fay  is  the  tomb  of  Heredy,  which  would  make  one  imagine  that 
one  of  their  faints  of  that  name  is  buried  here,  and  that  they  fuppofe  his 
foul  may  be  in  this  ferpent ;  for  I  obferved  they  went  and  kiffed  the  tomb 
with  much  devotion,  and  faid  their  prayers  at  it.  Oppofite  to  this  cleft 
is  another,  which  they  fay  belongs  to  Oghli-HafTan,  that  is,  Haffan  the 
fon  of  Heredy ;  there  are  two  other  clefts,  which  they  fay  are  inhabited 
by  faints  or  angels.  The  Sheik  told  me  there  were  two  of  thefe  ferpents, 
but  the  common  notion  is  that  there  is  only  one.  He  faid  it  has  been 
here  ever  fince  the  time  of  Mahomet ;  the  fhape  of  it  is  like  other  ferpents ; 
the  great  ones  appear  of  different  fizes,  from  a  foot  to  two  feet  long ;  the 
colour  is  of  a  mixture  of  yellow,  red  and  black ;  they  may  be  handled 
and  do  no  harm.  He  comes  out  only  during  the  four  fummer  months,  and 
it  is  faid  that  they  facrifice  to  it;  but  the  Sheik  denied  it,  and  affirmed 
they  only  brought  fheep,  lambs  and  money  to  buy  oil  for  the  lamps,-  but 
I  faw  much  blood  and  entrails  of  beafts  lately  kill'd  before  the  door. 
The  ftories  they  tell  are  fo  ridiculous  that  they  ought  not  to  be  repeated, 
if  it  were  not  to  give  an  inftance  of  their  idolatry,  in  thefe  parts  in  this 
Vol.  I.  K  k  refpea; 


126  OBSERVATIONS 

refpefl ;  though  the  Mahometan  religion  feems  to  be  very  far  from  it  in 
other  things.  They  fay  the  virtue  of  this  ferpent  is  to  cure  all  difeafes  of 
thofe  that  go  to  it,  or  of  fuch  as  have  it  brought  to  them,  for  they  often 
carry  it  to  great  people  in  a  bag,  to  whom  he  is  not  always  fhewn,  pro- 
bably pretending  to  carry  him  fometimes  when  they  have  him  not.  They 
are  alfo  full  of  a  ftory  that  when  a  number  of  women  go  there  once  a 
year,  he  paffes  by  and  looks  on  them,  and  goes  and  twines  about  the 
neck  of  the  moft  beautiful,  which  muff,  be  a  certain  fign  of  extraordi- 
nary qualities,  with  thofe  who  have  formed  to  themfelves  the  idea  of  a 
Mahometan  paradife.  They  have  alfo  a  ftory  that  a  Prince  came  to  fee 
the  ferpent,  but  at  firft  refuting  to  fhew  him,  when  they  afterwards  pro- 
due'd  him,  the  Prince  caufed  him  to  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  being  put  under 
a  vefTel,  the  ferpent  immediately  became  entire  again ;  but  it  is  faid  that  a 
Chriftian,  who  was  defirous  to  have  expos'd  the  fraud,  offer'd  a  confider- 
able  fum  to  be  permitted  to  cut  it  to  pieces,  but  could  not  be  allowed  to 
try  the  experiment:  They  add  alfo,  that  it  cannot  be  carried  beyond  Girge 
or  Meloui,  and  if  they  attempt  to  go  further  it  difappears.  Endeavour- 
ing as  much  as  I  could  to  lift  into  the  bottom  of  this  affair,  I  was  fur- 
priz'd  to  hear  a  very  grave  and  fenfible  Chriftian  fay,  that  he  always  cured 
any  diftempers,  but  that  worfe  commonly  follow'd  on  it;  and  fome  Chri- 
ftians  who  pretend  to  have  more  learning  than  others,  and  really  believe 
that  he  works  miracles,  fay  they  believe  it  is  the  Devil  mention  a  in  To- 
bit,  that  the  angel  Gabriel  drove  into  the  utmoft  parts  of  Egypt.  It  is 
probable  that  they  have  fome  ferpents  here  they  have  bred  tame,  and  it 
feems  to  be  fome  remains  of  the  heathen  worfhip  of  thofe  harmlefs  fer- 
pents mention'd  by  Herodotus,  that  were  efteemed  facred  to  Jupiter,  and 
when  they  found  them  dead,  they  buried  them  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter 
at  Thebes  '.  I  went  on  and  came  to  Gaua-Kiebir,  where  I  went  afhore. 
The  Sheik,  to  whom  I  had  a  letter,  was  not  at  home,  but  his  brother  fent 
one  with  me  to  view  the  temple  a  fecond  time.  The  wind  not  being  fa- 
vourable, we  ftaid  at  this  place ;  it  rain'd  in  the  night,  and  began  to  rain 
again  after  it  was  day,  on  the  eighteenth ;  but  it  clear'd  up.  We  purfu'd 
our  voyage,  and  ftopp'd  early  at  Sciout;  and  it  rain'd  again  in  the  evening. 
Here  we  met  with  fome  Turkifh  merchants  with  black  llaves,  which  they 
buy  up  towards  Ethiopia,  and  bring  them  down  into  the  upper  parts  of 
Egypt,  where  they  are  prepared  for  the  feraglios,  under  which  operation 
they  fometimes  die.  On  the  nineteenth  I  went  to  Sciout,  and  took  a 
view  of  the  town.  On  the  twentieth  we  came  to  Manfalouth,  where  I 
deliver'd  a  letter  I  had  to  a  Chriftian  of  that  place,  but  as  there  was  no- 
thing to  fee  there,  fo  we  went  on  and  came  to  Meloui.  I  waited  on  the 
Sardar  with  a  prefent  of  Englifh  cutlery  ware  and  fome  other  things,  and 
he  was  very  obliging,  and  faid,  if  he  could  he  would  go  along  with  me 
himfelf  to  fee  the  temple  of  Archemounain,  to  have  half  the  treafures  I 
found,  or  he  would  fend  his  fecretary.  The  next  day  I  went  to  the  town, 
and  the  cavalcade  of  the  Sardar  was  going  out  towards  Archemounain 

r  Et'cr)  3  me/  ®*&ct<;  fgo)  t$m,  avfyuxw  xSc&pa.  <V  tioned  as  fmal]  and  harmlefs,  and  as  having  horns. 

A^ov«,  ti  pgya&si'  to'ita  pjaao),  <Mo  k^£«  cpofsyin  sr£-  The  horn'd  viper  is  very  common  in  Egypt, 

IpvxaTa  e|  «jtg«r  £  x£(p«Awr  tsV  «7riiS«voy7«f  Sdnltiffi  but  I  fuppofe  is  noxious ;  the  horns  are  fome- 

h  rw     ts  AioV  Txrts  yu.^  atyas    StS  tfwl  mcu  1'giff.  thing  like  the  horns  of  a  fnail,  but  are  of  a  hard 

Herodotus  ii.  c.  74.  fubftance  a  I  have  one  of  them  preferv'd  in  fpi- 

It  is  to  be  obferved,  that  thefe  ferpents  are  men-  rits. 

with 


ON  EGYPT.  i27 

with  the  Caia,  attended  by  a  great  number  of  people  with  kettle  drums 
and  other  mufic,  and  I  follow'd  on  a  very  indifferent  afs;  and  when  they 
paffed  through  any  village,  the  mufic  play'd.  The  fecretary  was  fent  with 
me  to  view  the  temple.  I  return'd  to  the  Caia,  whofe  carpet  and  cufhions 
were  laid  on  a  height,  on  which  he  fat  with  the  ftandard  by  him,  that 
is  carried  before  him  when  they  go  out  in  this  manner.  I  fat  down  with 
him,  and  coffee  was  brought ;  the  Sardar  himfelf  came  after,  as  incognito. 
1  return'd  to  my  boat,  and  on  the  twenty-fourth  we  went  forward,  and 
came  to  Minio  about  night,  where  the  men  were  obliged  to  pay  twenty 
medins,  which  is  about  a  milling,  for  the  boat.  On  the  twenty-fifth  we 
paffed  by  Samalut,  and  after  by  Galofana  on  the  weft,  where  I  faw  in 
the  water  two  rows  of  hewn  ftone  about  twenty  feet  in  length,  as  if  it  were 
the  remains  of  an  old  wall.  We  approached  two  villages,  Sheik-Faddle  on 
the  eaft,  and  Benimfar  on  the  weft.  Thefe  two  villages  had  a  difpute  a- 
bout  an  ifland  that  was  between  them.  It  is  faid  on  applying  to  a  great  Battle  on  the 
Bey  their  landlord,  who  was  not  willing  to  difoblige  either  of  them,  he  le' 
bid  them  fight  it  out.  This  happen'd  to  be  the  important  decifive  day 
between  thefe  two  villages.  We  heard  guns  fire,  and  after  that  a  noife  and 
fhouting  as  for  victory,  and  faw  many  people  ftanding  on  the  weft  fide. 
Soon  after  we  perceived  people  throwing  themfelves  into  the  water  from 
many  parts  of  the  ifland,  and  fwimming  to  the  eaft,  others  following  them 
to  the  water,  firing  at  them  or  pelting  them  with  ftones.  We  faw  plainly 
we  were  in  the  midft  of  a  battle,  and  it  was  too  late  to  retire.  However, 
we  prepared  our  arms  to  defend  ourfelves  in  cafe  we  fhould  be  attack'd. 
As  we  obferved  that  the  chief  fire  was  from  the  eaftern  fide,  the  battle 
being  on  the  weft,  where  they  were  engaged,  we  were  determined  to  go 
on  the  eaft  under  the  cover  of  their  fire.  We  faw  great  numbers  fwim- 
ming over  to  the  eaft,  with  their  clothes  and  pikes  in  their  hands  ;  one  of 
them  laid  hold  of  our  boat,  and  came  in  to  reft  himfelf,  fo  that  we  were 
afraid  the  people  on  the  weft  fide  might  fire  on  us,  as  protecting  their 
enemies ;  for  the  weftern  people  had  gain'd  the  victory,  and  mod  of  them 
were  retired  from  the  ifland,  and  difplay'd  their  ftandard  on  the  other  fide. 
We  faw  the  women  on  the  eaft  coming  to  the  fide  of  the  river,  to  fee  if 
they  could  fpy  out  their  hufbands,  clapping  their  hands  and  beating  their 
breafts.  The  village  of  Sheik-Faddle  on  the  eaft  had  manned  a  boat,  put  it 
out  into  the  river,  and  were  firing  on  the  other  fide,  and  the  fire  was  return'd 
on  them.  Paffing  by  this  boat,  we  were  in  great  danger.  When  we  were 
below  the  village,  we  judged  we  were  fafe,  and  I  got  out  to  fee  what  paf- 
fed, and  in  a  very  fhort  time  I  perceived  a  ball  fell  into  the  water,  only 
three  or  four  yards  from  the  boat,  which  without  doubt  they  fired  at  us. 
Thus  I  faw  this  battle,  which  perhaps  may  not  be  much  inferior  to  fome  of 
the  little  engagements  of  the  Greeks,  defcribed  by  Thucidydes  with  fo 
much  pomp  and  eloquence. 

We  paffed  by  Sharony  on  the  eaft ;  to  the  fouth  of  it  is  a  fmall  hill,  on 
which  there  appear'd  to  have  been  buildings,  and  there  are  many  ftones  on 
the  bank  of  the  river,  which  feem  to  be  the  ruins  of  a  thick  wall  of  a 
quay,  which  together  with  the  likenefs  of  the  name,  made  me  imagine 
that  either  Ptolemy  is  miftaken  in  placing  Oxyrinchus  on  the  weft,  or  that 
this  city  which  from  Ptolemy  I  place  about  Abougirge,  might  in  latter  ages 
be  neglected  and  fuffer'd  to  run  to  ruin,  and  that  a  new  city  might  be 

built 


i 


128  OBSERVATIONS 

built  on  the  eaft  fide,  and  take  its  name.  On  the  twenty-fixth  I  went  a- 
fhoar  at  Benefuief,  and  we  after  paffed  by  Eouche,  which  I  fuppofe  to  be 
Ptolemais,  the  port  of  Arfinoe.  To  this  place  they  ufually  come  to  go  to 
Convents  of  the  monafteries  of  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Paul,  in  the  deferts  near  the  Red 
SdlltJPauI  fea  j  tne  latter  being  the  founder  of  the  hermit's  life,  and  the  former  of 
in  the  defcrt.  t]le  monaftic  life  in  fociety  ;  they  were  cotemporaries.  St.  Anthony  the 
abbot  founded  a  monaftery  in  this  place;  and  at  the  convent  of  St.  Paul,  a 
fmall  day's  journey  to  the  north,  they  now  live  in  the  monaftic  way,  tho' 
formerly  they  were  hermits.  Some  fay  they  lived  in  the  time  of  the  Em- 
peror Philip,  others  of  Decius,  who  perfecuted  the  Chriftians;  and  it  is  faid 
St.  Anthony  lived  till  the  time  of  Conftantine.  A  view  of  thefe  convents 
may  be  feen  in  the  fifty-firft  plate,  as  I  found  them  in  a  manufcript  map 
of  the  country  about  them.  The  convent  of  St.  Antony  A.  is  a  large  en- 
clofure,  the  entrance  to  it  is  by  a  window,  as  at  mount  Sinai ;  they  have 
a  great  number  of  palm,  olive,  and  other  trees  within  it.  I  met  a  monk 
of  this  convent  at  Faiume,  who  gave  me  fome  account  of  it.  The  pa- 
triarch is  head  of  the  convent  of  St.  Antony :  I  know  not  whether  it  is 
always  fo,  or  that  the  patriarch  being  chofe  from  thence,  might  have  pre- 
fided  over  this  convent,  and  continue  to  do  fo  ;  he  has  a  deputy  there. 
There  are  three  other  perfons  who  have  a  fhare  in  the  government  of  the 
convent,  four  more  that  are  priefts,  and  twenty-three  that  are  lay  monks «. 
From  the  references  *  below  to  the  view  cf  the  convent,  it  may  be  feen 
that  they  have  every  thing  within  themfelves,  and  particularly  a  tower  for 
a  ftorehoufe,  defended  by  a  draw- bridge,  in  cafe  the  Arabs  fhould  any 
way  break  in  upon  them.  They  have  three  fprings  of  water  running  into  the 
convent,  that  are  a  little  fait.  And  it  is  probable  that  in  thefe  convents  are 
the  only  bells  in  all  Egypt. 

At  the  convent  of  St.  Paul  B.  there  are  twenty-five  monks  in  all ;  they 
cannot  marry,  but  widowers  may  be  admitted.  A  woman  is  not  permit- 
ted to  enter  the  convent.  They  are  not  allow'd  fo  much  as  to  fmoke  in  the 
convent,  nor  to  eat  meat,  but  the  good  monks  think  they  do  not  break 
through  their  rule  if  they  do  both  without  the  convent,  which  is  what  they 
commonly  practice;  but  their  ufual  diet  is  olives,  cheefe,  that  they  bring 
from  Faiume,  and  fait  fifh,  with  which  they  are  fupplied  from  the  Red 
lea,  which  is  about  feven  miles  from  thefe  convents.  It  is  indeed  faid  that 
they  eat  but  once  a  day,  except  on  faturdays  and  fundays.  Thofe  who  go 
to  thefe  mountains  will  do  well  to  enquire  if  there  is  a  very  thick  high 
wall  in  thefe  parts,  faid  to  be  twenty-four  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and 
to  examine  all  particulars  about  it,  and  of  what  extent  it  is  The  per- 
fon  who  made  the  fketch  of  the  country  about  thefe  convents  in  one  thou- 
fand  feven  hundred  and  fixteen,  from  which  I  have  taken  what  relates  to 

*  In  the  view  of  the  convent  of  St.  Anthony,  garden.    O.  The  caroubi-trees.    P.  The  olive- 

the  places  are  thus  markM.  yard.    Cv_  Three  fotirces  of  water. 

A.  The  church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.   B.       In  the  convent  of  St.  Paul  A.  is  the  church  and 

the  church  of  St.  Anthony.    C.  The  belfry,  with  grot  of  St.  Paul.    B.  The  bell.    C.  A  tower, 

a  fmall  bell  in  it.    D.  The  tower  where  they  keep  D.  The  window  by  which  they  enter.    E.  The 

their  books  and  provifions.    E.  The  draw-bridge  cells  of  the  monks.    F.  The  mill.    G.  The  gar- 

to  it.    F.  The  window  by  which  they  enter  the  den.    H.  A  fpring  of  water  that  is  a  little  fait, 
convent.    G.  The  cells  of  the  monks.    H.  The       s  The  deputy  they  call  Rubeti,  the  three  next 

mill.    I.  The  great  garden.    K.  The  chapel  of  Gumous,  the  priefts  Kefhiefh,  and  the  others 

St.  Mark,  the  difciple  of  St.  Anthony.    L.  The  Ruban. 

vineyard.     M.  Palm-groves.     N.  The  apricot       '  See  Mallet's  defcription  of  Egypt,  p.  32 1. 

the 


ON    EGYPT.  129 

the  modern  geography  in  that  part,  obferved  on  the  firft  of  June,  and  the 
fecond  day  of  the  moon,  that  the  tide  went  out  there  at  the  Red  fea  from 
twelve  at  night  to  fix  in  the  morning,  one  hundred  and  ten  paces.  He 
obferves  alfo  that  there  is  water  in  the  feveral  torrents  only  in  the  middle  of 
the  winter. 

On  the  twenty-feventh  of  February  in  the  evening,  one  thoufand  feven  Arrival  a: 
hundred  and  thirty-feven,  I  arrived  at  old  Cairo,  and  went  to  Cairo  to 
the  conful's  houfe,  having  perform'd  this  journey  up  above  the  catarafts 
and  back  again,  with  the  greateft  good  fortune,  exadtly  in  three  months. 

As  the  convent  of  Mount  Sinai  was  not  at  peace  with  the  Arabs,  and  it 
was  impoflible  to  go  there  on  that  account,  I  determined  to  be  at  Jerufalem 
at  Eafter,  to  fee  Paleftine,  Syria,  and  Cyprus,  and  to  return  into  Egypt 
to  make  that  journey  and  fome  others  I  propofed;  fo  flaying  only  three 
days  in  Cairo,  on  the  third  of  March  I  got  into  a  boat  for  Damiata,  in  or-  Departure 
der  to  embark  for  Joppa,  not  failing  till  early  the  next  morning.  A  mer-  [cn£HU&" 
chant  of  black  flaves  had  a  number  of  them  in  one  part  of  the  boat,  and 
I  faw  a  young  woman  among  them,  that  had  feven  holes  bored  in  her 
nofe  for  rings,  one  in  the  middle,  and  three  on  each  fide.  The  firft  day 
we  made  about  a  quarter  of  the  voyage,  and  flopped  at  Mifelcafer.  On 
the  fifth  we  failed  by  Benalhafiar,  which  I  fuppofe  to  be  Bubaftus  and 
Phibefeth  of  the  fcripture.  In  the  evening  we  were  about  half  way.  On 
the  fixth  we  lay  by  part  of  the  day  near  Aboufir,  the  wind  not  being  favou- 
rable. We  went  on  and  anchor'd  at  night  out  in  the  river,  as  I  fuppofe 
they  apprehended  fome  danger;  and  hearing  a  gun  fire,  the  people  of  the 
boat  fhot  off  their  pieces  two  or  three  times.  On  the  feventh  we  palled 
by  Mahalla,  Manfoura,  and  Dioft.  This  latter  is  on  the  weft,  and  about 
four  hours  weft  of  it,  is  the  convent  of  St.  Geminiani,  where  there  is 
yearly  a  great  refort  of  Chriftians  for  devotion,  and  much  talk  of  fome- 
thing  like  fpirits,  which,  as  far  as  I  could  find,  is  nothing  but  the  fhadow 
of  the  people  palling,  feen  in  a  room  by  a  fmall  hole.  The  next  day  I 
arrived  at  Damiata,  and  went  with  letters  I  had  to  a  perfon  there.  I  was 
fo  difguifed  with  my  drefs  and  beard,  that  he  would  hardly  believe  I  was 
an  Englifhman.  I  was  very  handfomely  entertain'd  accidentally  by  fome 
Greek  merchants  to  whom  I  was  not  recommended,  with  all  forts  of  fhell- 
fifh,  and  roes  of  fifh  ;  for  in  lent  they  are  not  allow'd  to  eat  any  other, 
and  only  the  roes  of  fifli  that  have  blood  in  them.  In  the  evening  I  went 
down  to  the  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  A  French  fhip  was  hired  to 
carry  the  pilgrims,  who  paid  about  a  guinea  a  head  to  the  merchant  for 
their  paffage.  Moft  of  the  pilgrims  met  on  the  narrow  fandy  point  on  the 
weft  fide  of  the  mouth  of  the  river.  To  the  weft  is  a  bay  about  two 
leagues  over;  and  on  the  weft  head,  a  large  Turkifh  fhip  of  Alexandria 
was  loft  in  November  laft,  with  feven  hundred  people  in  her,  the  captain 
only  being  faved  :  The  Bey,  who  had  carried  the  Grand  Signor's  tribute  out 
of  Egypt,  was  on  board,  and  came  to  land  alive,  but  foon  after  died,  as  it 
is  faid  of  the  fright.  In  the  evening  we  return'd  up  to  the  port,  and 
pafled  the  night  in  the  boat,  and  on  the  tenth  went  on  board  the  fhip  with 
the  other  pilgrims,  and  fail'd  for  Joppa. 


Vol.  I. 


A  DES-CRIP- 


OBSERVATIONS 


A 

DESCRIPTION 

O  F 

The  EAST,  &c. 


BOOK  m 

From  Grand  Cairo  by  the  Red  Sea, 
into  Arabia  Petraea,  to  Mount 
Sinai,  and  back  to  Cairo,  Rosetto, 
and  Alexandria. 


chap.  I. 

From  Grand  Cairo  to  Suez,  and  the  Red  Sea. 

HAVING  feen  Paleftine,  Syria,  part  of  Mefopotomia,  and  Cilicia, 
and  the  ifland  of  Cyprus,  I  landed  again  in  Egypt  on  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  December,  one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 
I  faw  at  Cairo  the  grand  proceffion  of  the  caravan  to  Mecca,  and  of  the 
hafna  or  treafure,  that  is,  the  Grand  Signor's  rents,  which  are  yearly  fent  to 
Conftantinople.  I  alfo  made  the  journies  to  Faiume,  the  labyrinth,  the 
pyramids  of  Saccara  and  Dafhour,  and  the  catacombs  of  Saccara,  and 
went  twice  to  the  pyramids  of  Gize,  near  Cairo,  which  are  commonly 
feen  by  travellers ;  and  prepared  for  my  journey  to  Mount  Sinai,  which  is 
to  be  look'd  on  as  the  moft  difficult  of  all  the  eaftern  voyages, 
journey  to  The  monks  of  the  convent  had  made  peace  with  the  Arabs ;  the  occa- 
oun  urn  o£  ^  breach  between  them  was  a  murder  they  had  committed  on 
a  monk  of  the  convent.  The  method  that  is  taken  to  make  this  jour- 
ney, is  to  agree  with  the  monks  of  Mount  Sinai,  who  have  a  convent 
at  Cairo,  to  furnifh  fo  many  camels,  giving  about  four  pounds  for 
each ;  they  take  care  alfo  to  procure  the  common  provifions  for  the  road ; 
and  it  is  the  cuftom  to  lie  at  their  convent  the  night  before  the  departure. 
On  the  twenty-feventh  of  March  I  went  to  the  place  from  which  the 

caravan 


ON    EGYPT.  i3t 

caravan  was  to  fct  out,  but  found  they  would  not  depart  that  day ;  fo  I 
return'd  to  the  conful's,  and  the  next  day  in  the  evening  I  went  out 
to  Keyd  Bey,  to  a  large  yard  where  all  the  camels  were  together,  that 
were  to  make  up  the  caravan.  In  this  open  yard  we  lay;  the  caravan  con- 
fifted  of  about  two  hundred  camels  laden  with  corn,  going  to  Muellah 
to  the  eaft  of  the  Red  Sea,  to  meet  the  caravan  coming  from  Mecca; 
the  Bey  that  always  goes  out  to  meet  the  Emir  Hadge  being  gone  before 
to  Adjeroute.  My  bed  was  laid  on  my  camel,  a  bag  of  proviiions  on  one 
fide,  a  skin  of  water  on  the  other,  and  a  wooden  bottle  of  water  to  flake 
the  thirft  in  this  hot  climate.  We  afcended  the  mountain  call'd  Jebel- 
Macatlium,  and  went  eaft  along  the  fandy  hills.  I  obferved  in  the  road 
many  ftones  that  look'd  like  petrified  wood,  being  very  numerous  in  fome 
parts ;  if  this  is  really  petrified  wood,  as  this  place  feems  never  to  have 
been  capable  of  producing  trees,  I  do  not  know  whether  it  may  be  look'd 
on  as  a  probable  conjecture,  that  the  people  travelling  in  thefe  parts,  and 
carrying  fome  wood  with  them  for  their  ufe,  might  leave  it  behind  when 
they  approach'd  towards  the  great  city,  and  that  having  been  covered  with 
fand,  it  might  petrify,  and  the  fand  be  afterwards  blown  away ;  though 
indeed  I  faw  one  piece  that  feem'd  to  have  been  a  large  body  of  a  tree. 
We  came  to  fome  uneven  ground;  and  all  of  a  fudden  the  caravan  was 
alarm'd,  by  feeing  four  men  at  a  diftance  riding  fwiftly  towards  them 
from  the  fouth.  All  the  people  allighted  from  their  camels  and  took  their 
arms,  and  went  towards  them  to  meet  them,  on  which  all  but  one  of 
them  retired,  who  coming  on,  they  went  in  a  body  towards  him,  and  as 
he  perceived  he  was  like  to  meet  with  a  warm  reception,  he  thought  fit 
to  withdraw.  The  long  ftep  of  the  camel  caufes  a  very  great  motion  in 
the  riders,  which  to  fome  is  very  difagreeable ;  they  commonly  lie  down 
to  be  mounted,  but  when  any  one  difmounts  on  the  road,  the  way  of 
getting  up  is  on  the  back  of  the  Arab,  who  ftoops  down,  and  fo  they 
climb  up  the  neck  of  the  camel.  The  pace  they  go  is  not  above  two  miles 
and  a  half  an  hour.  We  lay  in  the  open  air,  as  they  always  do  in  this 
journey;  having  travell'd  thirteen  hours  without  flopping.  As  foon  as  the 
caravan  halts,  if  it  is  not  dark,  they  let  the  camels  browfe  a  while  on  the 
little  fluubs,  and  the  people  go  about  and  gather  the  wood  of  them  for 
fuel;  they  then  make  the  camels  lie  down,  bind  one  of  their  legs  to 
hinder  them  from  getting  up,  and  commonly  tie  them  together  with  a 
fmall  rope,  to  prevent  any  of  them  from  going  away  without  difturbing 
the  others,  and  making  a  noife ;  fo  they  place  their  goods  in  the  middle  be- 
tween themfelves  and  their  camels.  They  feed  thefe  ufeful  beafts  with  balls 
they  make  up  of  barley  meal,  which  they  put  into  their  mouths.  In  thefe 
parts,  where  it  is  not  very  wholefome  to  lie  abroad,  ftrangers  eipecially  take 
care  to  be  well  cover'd,  by  a  carpet  laid  over  the  head for  though  I  carry 'd 
a  tent,  it  was  not  proper  commonly  to  make  ufe  of  it,  for  fear  of  paffing 
for  a  confiderable  perfon,  that  might  be  worth  plundering.  On  the  thir- 
tieth we  fet  out  an  hour  before  day,  and  in  about  eleven  hours  we  came 
to  a  narrow  valley  called  Tearofaid,  between  very  low  hills.  In  about  an 
hour  and  a  half  we  came  to  a  narrower  valley,  with  a  high  ground  on 
each  fide;  this  is  called  Haraminteleh,  and  there  feem  to  be  ruins  of  a 
wall  built  acrofs,  to  defend  the  pafs.  After  I  left  the  place,  I  thought 
poflibly  the  canal  might  pafs  this  way,  and  that  this  wall  might  be  the 

remains 

2 


j3z  OBSERVATIONS 

remains  of  the  buildings  of  one  of  the  flood  gates,  which  any  one  who 
goes  in  that  road  may  take  more  particular  notice  of,  to  fee  if  they  can 
trace  the  canal  that  way.  I  faw  no  fort  of  hearts  in  the  defert  till  I  came 
to  this  place,  where  I  obferved  fome  birds;  and  in  the  defert  I  had  feen 
feveral  holes,  which  they  faid  were  made  by  an  animal  called  Jerdaon,  and 
I  could  not  be  certainly  informed,  whether  or  no  it  was  what  the  Euro- 
peans call  the  Pharaoh's  rat,  and  is  thought  to  be  the  Ichneumon.  All  the 
defert  is  gravelly,  having  in  fome  parts  fhrubs  and  aromatic  herbs.  We 
after  came  into  the  open  plain,  and  faw  Adjeroute,  at  which  place  we  lay, 
having  travell'd  fixteen  hours  without  flopping,  and  the  alternoon  was 
fo  very  hot,  that  my  leg,  that  was  expos'd  to  the  fouth,  blifter'd,  being 
uncovered,  according  to  the  fafhion  among  the  common  people,  wlio'fe 
drefs  I  always  imitated,  but  I  was  after  obliged  to  defend  myfell  better 
againft  the  heat. 

Adjeroute.       Adjeroute  is  only  a  fquare  caftle  with  a  garrifon  of  foldiers  in  it;  this 

Heroopoiis.  as  j  {fail  0bferve,  has  been  fuppofed  to  be  the  antient  Heroopolis;  it  is 
diftant  from  Cairo  four  hundred  and  eighty  deraies  (as  the  Arabs  call  them 
in  their  journey  to  Mecca,  fifteen  of  them  making  an  hour)  which  is  thirty- 
two  hours,  but  according  to  my  computation  it  is  only  twenty-nine  hours; 
the  three  hours  difference  may  be  in  the  road  the  caravan  takes  farther 
round,  being  much  about  the  diftance  that  the  lake  of  the  Pilgrims  is 
from  Cairo,  where  they  encamp  and  begin  their  journey.  On  the  thirty- 
firft  we  fet  out  before  fun  rife,  the  great  caravan  taking  the  road  to  the 
fouth  weft  to  Mecca,  which  is  called  the  eaftern  road  (Derb-el-Charke) 
we  went  on  fouth  towards  Suez,  in  a  fort  of  a  hollow  ground,  in  which, 
as  I  fhall  obferve,  the  fea  formerly  might  come,  having  firft  a  rifing  ground 
to  the  eaft.  In  about  two  hours  and  a  half  we  came  to  the  well  of  Suez 
(Bir-el-Suez)  where  their  is  a  cane ;  it  is  a  fine  large  well,  in  which  the  wa- 
ter was  drawn  by  a  wheel,  but  not  being  kept  in  repair,  the  men  draw  it 
up  with  ropes;  it  is  fo  fait  that  it  is  not  fit  to  drink.    About  two  miles 

Suei.  further  to  the  fouth  is  Suez,  at  the  north  end  of  the  Red  Sea.  This  fea 
makes  two  golphs  to  the  north,  divided  by  that  point  of  land  which  feems 
to  have  had  the  general  name  of  the  defert  of  Pharan,  from  a  place  of  that 
name  towards  the  fouth  of  it;  that  to  the  eaft  was  called  the  Elanitic 
golph  from  Elana,  at  the  north  end  of  it,  as  the  weftern  was  called  the 
Heroopolitic  golph  from  Heroopolis.    1  fuppofe  Suez  to  be  the  antient 

Arfmoe.  Arfinoe,  by  which  Strabo  °  fays  the  canal  run  into  the  Red  Sea,  fo  that  it 
muft  have  been  at  the  north  end  of  the  Sea.  To  the  eaft  of  Suez  there 
is  a  fmall  bay,  that  divides  again  into  two  parts,  extending  fome  way  to 
the  north :  Whether  or  no  Heroopolis  was  on  this  moft  northern  point  of 
the  Sea,  or  about  Adjeroute,  where  it  has  commonly  been  thought  to  be, 
it  is  not  eafy  to  determine :  It  might  either  have  been  there,  or  on  the  high 

Migdoi.  ground  to  the  fouth  eaft.  This  I  fuppofe  to  be  Migdol,  mention'd  in  the 
journey  of  the  children  of  Ifrael,  different  from  Magdol  near  Pelufium. 
Strabo  feems  in  one  place  to  make  Cleopatris  the  fame  as  Arfinoe,  where 
there  muft  be  concluded  to  have  been  fome  alteration  in  the  words  of  the 
author,  as  he  afterwards  w  fays,  that  near  Arfinoe  was  Heroopolis,  and 

"  "ASM  f  if)»  inSiSitu  «l  T  'E{»0e?»,  it,  ?  A&tin    it  «  KAM!r»W(  in  ™  «  Ajj<&'»  ii 

XoAirov  Kf  jnoXiv  'h^ivavtv.  Strabo  Xvii.  p.  804.  7T£sV  A/yuffToK,   x,    Ai.u^'ef,  x,   xaloiXiW  Sibyls  3 

"  Wivhi  3    'AfntiV)  s  l' t  Hi""  kl  •n'Jiifj    Knit,  ^  Ai/mm  mM'til,**"  row.  Strabo.  ibid. 

Cleopatris 
3 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  133 

Cleopatris  on  the  Arabian  gulf  next  to  Egypt:  He  fpeaks  of  ports,  canals, 
and  lakes  near  Arfinoe,  the  latter  poflibly  made  by  the  tide,  and  might 
be  about  the  ftnall  bays  to  the  north  eaft  of  it.  This  paffage  of  Strabo 
alfo  is  a  proof  of  an  error  in  Ptolemy,  who  places  Arfinoe  forty  minutes 
fouth  of  Heroopolis.  It  is  likewife  very  doubtful  where  Cleopatris  was,  cleopatds 
unlefs  it  might  be  on  the  high  ground  to  the  north  of  Suez;  this  I  fup- 
pofe  to  be  Pihahiroth.  If  Heroopolis  was  on  the  moil  northern  height  I  Pihabiroth. 
have  mentioned,  the  Red  fea  muft  have  loft  ground;  and  indeed  by  the 
fituation  of  places  there  is  great  appearance  of  it;  the  valleys,  and  the 
high  ground,  with  broken  clifts,  looking  very  much  like  fuch  an 
alteration;  and  we  may  fuppofe,  that  if  the  fea  retir'd  in  this  manner, 
Cleopatris  might  firft  be  built  more  to  the  fouth  than  Heroopolis;  and 
that  continuing  to  retire,  Arfinoe  might  be  built  ftill  farther  to  the 
fouth,  which  I  fuppofe  to  be  Baal-Zephon.  Arfinoe,  with  great  rea-  Baal-Zcpimn 
fon,  is  fuppofed  to  be  where  Suez  now  is,  as  one  fees  to  the  weft  and 
north  of  it  plain  figns  of  an  antient  city.  It  would  be  a  very  fine  fi- 
tuation for  a  port,  if  the  fhips  could  come  up  to  the  quay,  as  probably 
they  did  formerly.  It  is  fituated  on  a  fmall  promontory,  making  out  eaft- 
ward  into  the  Red  fea.  The  old  city  extended  about  a  furlong  to  the 
weft  of  this  promontory,  and  the  north  weft  corner  of  the  Red  fea  is  a- 
bout  two  miles  to  the  weft  of  the  town.  Two  fmall  bays  of  the  fea 
extend  about  a  league  to  the  north  north  eaft  of  the  town.  The  port 
feems  to  have  been  between  the  weftern  bay  and  the  town,  to  the  weft 
of  which  there  is  a  raifed  ground,  that  feems  to  have  been  the  fite  of 
an  antient  caftle  to  defend  the  Hupping;  for  the  old  town  extended  alfo 
to  the  north  weft  of  the  prefent.  Here  the  fhipping  lay  fecure  from  all 
winds,  only  a  little  expos'd  to  the  eaft,  which  could  have  no  great  force, 
the  paflage  over  to  the  other  fide  into  Afia  not  being  above  a  mile.  When 
the  tide  is  out,  there  is  to  the  fouth  of  the  town,  a  large  fandy  bank  about 
two  miles  long,  to  the  eaft  of  which  is  a  road  to  go  out  to  the  fhipping, 
and  when  they  have  no  wind,  they  draw  the  boats  along  by  this  bank; 
about  a  mile  fouth  weft  of  it  are  the  fhips,  a  league  from  the  town,  the 
deep  water  being  on  the  weft,  where  it  is  a  bold  fhore,  there  being  fholes 
on  the  eaft  fide,  where  the  land  is  low,  whereas  there  are  high  hills  all 
along  on  the  weft.  Suez  is  govern'd  by  a  Captan,  which  is  the  title  of 
an  admiral,  the  high  admiral  being  call'd  Captan  Bafhaw,  or  Head  Ad- 
miral. His  bufinefs  is  more  particularly  with  the  fhips,  and  he  has  under 
him  a  Caimacam,  the  ordinary  governor  of  towns,  who  both  together,  or 
feparately,  govern  the  affairs  of  the  place ;  the  latter  commonly  refides 
here,  the  other  when  the  fhips  are  in  the  ports  ;  and  a  Sheik  Arab,  who  lives 
here,  has  really  all  the  power,  whenever  he  pleaies  to  interfere ;  and  what 
gives  him  much  authority  is  the  great  fcarcity  of  water,  which  is  brought 
fix  miles  from  Naba,  to  the  eaft  fouth  eaft,  on  the  other  fide  of  the  Red 
fea ;  fo  that  on  the  leaft  difcontent  with  the  people  or  their  governors, 
they  will  not  permit  water  to  be  brought  to  the  town,  and  they  are 
obliged  to  drink  a  fait  water  brought  near  a  league  from  the  north,  from 
(Beer-el-Suez)  the  well  of  Suez,  fo  that  on  this  account  it  was  a  very  great 
advantage  to  have  a  canal  cut  from  the  Nile,  as  the  canal  of  Trajan 
was;  for  water  is  now  fold  at  Suez  in  the  fmalleft  meafures.  There  are 
four  mofques  in  the  town,  and  a  Greek  church  in  a  houfe,  there  being 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  Greeks  here,  and  three  or  four  Coptis. 

Vol.  I.  Mm  Part 


OBSERVATIONS 

Part  of  the  way  from  Adjeroute  is  in  a  fort  of  fofiee,  that  is  thought 
to  be  the  canal  of  Trajan,  and  feems  to  have  run  clofe  to  the  weft  end 
of  the  old  city :  From  Cairo,  through  which  it  conveys  the  water,  it  goes 
north,  and  north  eaft  and  by  north,  and  fupplies  all  the  country  with  wa- 
ter for  feveral  miles ;  and  by  a  branch  from  it,  that  large  lake  called  the  Birke 
or  Lake,  is  fill'd,  in  which  the  water  remains  moft  part  of  the  year.  It 
is  about  eight  miles  from  Cairo,  and  a  league  north  of  Matarea;  it  may 
be  feven  or  eight  miles  long,  and  four  broad ;  here  it  is  the  pilgrims  for 
Mecca  meet,  near  a  week  before  their  departure,  and  fet  out  altogether 
on  that  journey.  The  canal  after  makes  a  great  circuit  round  the  hills 
to  the  north  and  north  eaft,  infomuch  that  the  common  people  fay  it  goes 
near  to  Gaza,  which  muft  be  falfe.  That  lake  reprefented  in  Sicard's  map 
with  a  canal  going  to  it,  which  I  fuppofe  to  be  part  of  the  antient  canal, 
may  poffibly  be  the  lake,  fpoken  of  by  Strabo  x,  in  the  Sethreitic  province 
to  the  fouth  of  Pelufium;  for  he  fpeaks  of  canals  going  into  this  lake, 
and  feems  to  fay  that  one  of  them  went  to  the  Red  fea  by  Arfinoe, 
though  in  the  whole,  the  fenfe  of  the  author  appears  to  be  fomewhat 
difficult. 

The  trade  of  Suez  is  only  to  Jedda  on  the  eaft  of  the  Red  fea  near  Mec- 
ca; it  is  carried  on  by  one  fleet  of  between  thirty  and  forty  fhips,  that 
fet  out  about  the  fame  time  from  Jedda  in  the  Hamfeen  feafon,  that  is,  the 
fifty  days  before  the  middle  of  May,  when  the  Merify  or  fouth  winds  ge- 
nerally blow ;  and  if  they  chance  to  be  too  late,  they  muft  wait  another 
year ;  and  when  thole  winds  fail  on  the  voyage,  they  fometimes  are 
obliged  to  pafs  a  twelvemonth  in  fome  bad  harbour,  as  they  have  often 
done  at  Coffeir.  They  return  laden  with  corn  and  rice  in  October;  the 
loading  from  Jedda  is  principally  coffee,  incenfe,  fome  few  Indian  and 
Perfian  goods,  the  richeft  being  carried  by  land  with  the  caravan  from 
Mecca.  There  are  other  fhips  that  bring  the  coffee  from  Fefeca  in  Je- 
men,  the  antient  Arabia  Fcelix,  among  which  are  five  or  fix  Englifh  and 
French  fhips  generally  employ'd:  Five  of  the  fhips  which  come  to  Suez 
belong  to  the  Grand  Signor,  the  others  to  merchants.  Each  bag  of  coffee 
weighs  between  three  and  four  hundred  pounds,  and  pays  thirty  Medines, 
which  is  about  two  fhillings,  when  it  comes  out  from  Jemen.  At  Jedda 
the  tenth  bag  is  taken,  and  half  of  it  goes  to  the  captain  for  his  freight, 
and  half  to  the  Pafha  there ;  and  at  Suez  it  pays  a  duty  of  near  a  penny 
for  every  pound  weight.  When  it  is  bought  by  our  merchants  it  is  puri- 
fied, and  lent  very  clean  into  England,  but  of  late  the  Weft  India  coffee, 
which  is  not  fo  good,  has  fold  fo  cheap,  that  it  does  not  turn  to  account 
to  fend  it  to  England.  This  Weft  India  coffee  is  carried  into  Syria  and 
other  parts,  and  fold  cheaper  than  the  coffee  of  Arabia,  and  fometimes,  to 
deceive,  is  mixed  with  it.  They  can  alfo  bring  coffee  round  by  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  much  cheaper  than  this  way.  The  Ships  that  go  between 
Jedda  and  Suez,  are  built  moftly  in  the  Indies,  rather  clumfy,  after 
the  Dutch  manner;  and  probably  many  of  them  may  be  built  at  the 
Dutch  fettlements  in  the  Eaft  Indies.  Moft  of  them  are  large,  and  they 
affured  me  that  the  biggeft  was  forty-eight  pikes  high,  that  is,  about  double 
the  number  of  feet;  but  probably  they  meafure  in  two  decks  they  have 
at  the  ftern  above  the  middle  part  of  the  fhip ;  they  have  alfo  one  deck 


*  Strabo,.  ibid. 


raifed 


ON  EGYPT. 


raifed  before,  above  the  middle  ;  on  this  they  have  on  each  fide  a  little 
room  for  a  mofque,  where  they  pray,  and  to  the  corner  of  each  is  rais'd 
a  little  pole  with  a  flag  on  it,  mark'd  with  a  half-moon :  On  the  end  of 
the  bowfprit  is  a  little  fhort  mad,  and  a  yard  and  fail  on  it,  and  over  it  is 
a  fmall  gallery,  on  which  the  pilot  ftands  to  look  out  and  give  the  word 
to  the  helm.  They  do  not  ufe  pumps,  but  draw  the  water  up  with  a  lea- 
thern bucket  by  the  help  of  a  windlace.    On  each  fide  of  the  well  to  re- 
ceive the  water  that  enters  into  the  {hip,  there  is  a  ciftern  about  fifteen 
feet  long  and  eight  wide,  going  down  near  to  the  bottom  of  the  vefTel, 
being  made  of  wood;  in  thefe  they  put  their  water,  and  draw  it  up  with 
leathern  buckets,  and  put  it  into  large  earthen  jars  for  prefent  ufe.  Thefe 
cifterns  hold  enough  for  a  voyage  of  eight  months,  though  they  always 
take  in  frefli  water  at  Tor.    Inftead  of  a  handle  to  the  rudder  in  the  (hip, 
they  have  a  pole  fix'd  in  it,  inclining  upwards  beyond  the  fhip,  being  a- 
bout  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  long.    A  beam  is  laid  acrofs  the  upper  deck, 
which  extends  on  each  fide  about  fifteen  feet  beyond  the  fides  of  the 
fhip ;  to  each  end  of  this  is  tied  a  yard  or  pole  perpendicularly,  fo  as  that 
either  end  of  it  may  be  moved  backwards  or  forwards  towards  the  fhip, 
as  it  is  drawn.    To  the  lower  end  of  this  comes  a  rope  from  the  pole, 
which  is  fix'd  into  the  rudder ;  to  the  upper  end  a  rope  is  fix'd,  which 
is  carried  to  a  block  at  the  corner  of  the  ftern,  and  brought  again  to  an- 
other block  at  the  upper  end  of  the  yard,  and  thence  croffes  the  fhip  over 
the  great  beam,  and  goes  to  the  other  yard,  to  which,  and  to  the  ftern  it 
is  carried  in  like  manner,  as  on  the  other  fide.    When  the  fhip  is  to  be 
work'd,  the  rope  of  communication,  which  goes  acrofs  the  fhip,  is  drawn 
to  a  poft  nearer  the  ftern,  where  there  is  a  ftay  made  for  it,  in  which  it 
is  drawn  either  one  way  or  other,  as  the  pilot  directs,  and  moves  the  helm 
by  the  ropes  fix'd  to  the  lower  end  of  the  aforefeid  yards;  and  when  one 
is  drawn  nearer,  and  the  top  of  the  yard  comes  nearer  to  the  fhip,  the 
bottom  confequently  flies  out,  and  the  other  pole  is  left  perpendicular  in 
its  natural  direction.  When  there  is  a  ftorm,  and  they  let  the  fhip  drive, 
they  loofe  the  rope  ofF  from  that  poft,  and  let  the  helm  play  as  it  will: 
And  this  .feems  to  explain  what  is  mention'd  in  faint  Paul's  voyage,  Afts 
xxvii.  v.  40.  "  That  when  they  had  committed  the  fhip  unto  the  Sea, 
"  they  loofed  the  rudder  bands,  and  hoifted  up  the  main  fail  to  the  wind'' : 
For  thefe  ropes,  which  direct,  the  helm,  may  be  very  properly  call'd  the 
rudder  bands,  by  which  it  is  either  fix'd  or  moved  one  way  or  other  *.  The 
voyage  to  Suez  is  very  dangerous,  more  efpecially  fouth  of  Tor,  where 
there  is  much  foul  ground,  and  thofe  trees  of  Madrepore,  a  fort  of  im- 
perfect coral,  which  are  about  Tor  and  fouth  of  it,  are  as  dangerous  as 
rocks  to  the  fhips  ;  and  in  thofe  parts,  where  the  water  is  not  deep,  they 
come  to  an  anchor  every  night.    The  mariners  fay,  that  from  Tor  to 
Mount  HoufTan  it  is  three  hundred  miles,  from  which  mountain  to  Mount 
Jamba  are  three  hundred  more,  and  from  that  mountain  to  Jedda  four 
hundred,  though  the  calculation  feems  very  much  to  exceed  the  diftance. 
And  as  Jedda  is  only  fix  degrees,  or  three  hundred  and  fixty  miles  fouth 
of  Tor;  it  is  poflible  they  may  compute  by  fome  meafure  that  is  about 
the  third  part  of  a  mile,  unlefs  I  might  be  any  ways  deceived  by  my  in- 
terpreter.   They  fometimes  tie  their  cables  to  thefe  trees,  or  ftones  on  the 

*  A  drawing  of  this  fort  of  helm  may  be  feen  in  the  firft  plate. 

rocks. 


i36  OBSERVATIONS 

rocks.  When  the  {hips  are  unloaded  at  Suez,  they  leave  them  without  any 
body  in  them,  faften'd  with  two  anchors,  to  each  of  which  are  tied  four 
or  five  great  cables,  made  of  a  part  of  the  date  tree,  and  the  cuftom- 
houfe  officers  attend  here  only  during  the  ihort  time  that  the  mips  are  un- 
loaded and  loaded  again ;  fo  that,  except  at  thofe  feafons  of  bufinefs,  the 
little  town  of  Suez  is  very  thin  of  people.  I  was  inform'd  that  the  port 
of  Coffeir  is  exceedingly  dangerous,  which  I  fuppofe  was  ufed  when  the  trade 
of  the  Eaft  Indies  was  carried  on  that  way  to  Kept  and  Alexandria  ;  that 
■north  of  it  is  another  bad  port,  call'd  Old  Coffeir,  and  north  of  this  is  a 
fine  port  call'd  Hamromyos,  being  like  a  round  bafin ;  one  would  con- 
jecture that  this  was  the  antient  Myos  (Coffeir  being  Beronice )  as  doubt- 
lefs  moft  convenient  for  Kept,  the  antient  Coptus  ;  to  which  place, 
fituated  on  a  canal  of  the  Nile,  the  merchandices  were  carried  both  in  the 
antient  and  middle  ages.  It  is  laid  that  the  weft  fide  of  the  Red  fea  is 
much  deeper  than  the  eaft  fide,  all  the  way  to  Ethiopia,  but  that  they  are 
not  acquainted  with  that  road.  From  Suez  the  paffage  is  about  a  mile 
over  the  fea  to  the  eaft  fide  of  it  •  the  boats  go  twice  a  day,  both  for  wa- 
ter, which  is  brought  in  lkins  by  camels  to  the  fea  fhoar,  and  alfo  for 
wood  ;  for  of  all  places,  Suez  is  the  moft  deftitute  of  every  thing  that  the 
earth  produces.  They  have  neither  water,  grafs,  corn,  nor  any  fort  of  herb 
or  tree  near  it,  and  not  one  garden  about  the  whole  town. 

Egypt  feems  to  have  extended  as  far  as  the  Red  fea,  and  in  a  line  from 
the  eaft  fide  of  the  Heroopolitic  gulf  to  Sihor,  call'd  the  river  of  Egypt. 
It  is  probable  the  mountains  to  the  eaft  were  the  bounds  between  it  and 
Arabia  Petrsa ;  for  we  have  Heroopolis  on,  or  near  the  Red  fea,  as  a  capi- 
tal of  the  laft  province  of  Egypt ;  the  Cafiotis  was  on  the  fea,  and  the  pro- 
vince of  Phagroriopolis  in  the  middle  between  them. 


CHAP.  II. 

Of  Arabia   Petr^a.    From  Suez  to  Tor,  and 
Mount  Sinai. 

tv  v     <■    ARABIA  was  divided  into  three  parts.    Arabia  Felix,  between  the 

Divihon  of      /%  r  \ 

Arabia.       £^  Red  fea  and  the  Periian  gulf,   part  of  which  is  the  territory  of 
Mecca,  and  the  other  part  to  the  eaft  and  fouth  eaft  is  call'd  Jemen. 
Arabia  Petrsa,  which  has  its  name  from  being  a  rocky  country,  con- 
fifted  of  this  point  of  land  between  the  two  gulfs  of  the  Red  fea,  and 
extended  away  to  the  eaft  of  the  Dead  fea,  and  the  river  Jordan.  To 
the  eaft  of  this,  and  of  great  part  of  Syria,  was  Arabia  Deferta,  bound- 
Araiia  Pe-  ^  to  ^  ea^     tne  Euphrates.    In  Arabia  Petraa  we  were  in  Alia ;  and 
tra».        Ptolemy  mentions  the  black  mountains  which  run  along  this  promontory 
between  the  two  gulfs,  extending  as  far  as  Judea y.    The  firft  country 
on  that  fide  was  the  antient  Sarracenas     poffeffed  by  the  Arabs,  call'd  Sar- 
raceni,  who  at  length  extended  themfelves  as  far  as  the  country  about 

*   AlalflVH  &     v  T_ij  %U%&  T«  HUhspMX  MeA«v»  *  K«)  »Za    jWEV  SitCWS  TWU    CgSWV  MttPJ-  TJJU 

eLne  T8  K«7«<I'a^^  w'^y,  us  in't  tjjv  'IsJtw'av.  Ptol.  V.    Afyu/rloi',  ij  re  Saego^vtj  wa^m.  Km  uV  cwtw  Mk- 

c.  17.  Ptol.  ibid. 

Elana, 
3 


ON    EGYPT.  137 

Elana.  From  thefe  all  thofe  Arabs,  that,  under  Mahomet  and  his  fuccefibrs, 
over-run  thefe  countries,  had  the  name  of  Sarracens  among  the  European 
writers,  for  I  could  never  hear  of  this  name  in  the  eaft,  or  in  the  caftern 
authors.  This  part  of  Arabia  Petrsa  confifts  of  mountains,  narrow  val- 
ues between  them,  and  fandy  plains.  On  the  weft  there  is  a  fandy  plain 
on  the  fea  two  or  three  leagues  broad,  which  extends  about  thirty  miles  in 
length  to  thofe  hills  of  a  white  ftone  that  are  about  the  vale  or  winter  tor- 
rent call'd  Corondel.  Thefe  hills  ftretch  fouthwards  by  the  fea  for  above 
twenty  miles,  to  a  long  valley  two  or  three  leagues  broad,  call'd  the  vale 
of  Baharum,  having  on  the  weft  to  the  fea  the  hills  of  Gah,  and  on  the 
eaft  the  granite  mountains,  which  take  up  near  the  whole  breadth  of  this 
promontory,  Mount  Sinai  being  about  the  centre  of  them.  This  plain  ex- 
tends fouthwards  beyond  Tor,  to  the  end  of  the  promontory.  Eaft  of  the 
mountains  of  Corondel,  and  thofe  call'd  Pharaone,  there  is  a  long  ridge 
of  high  mountains  that  run  to  the  eaft,  within  thirty  miles  of  Accabah, 
the  antient  Elana,  on  the  north  of  the  eaftern  gulf  of  the  Red  fea  ;  which 
does  not  come  fo  far  north  as  the  weftern  by  about  a  degree,  as  near  as  I 
could  compute.  Thefe  mountains  are  called  Jebel-Te.  South  of  them, 
for  about  twelve  miles,  is  a  fandy  defert  call'd  Rembla  (the  Sand)  and 
fouth  of  this  begin  the  granite  mountains,  which  extend  to  the  eaft,  and 
fouth  to  the  fea.  In  all  this  country  there  are  but  three  or  four  villages, 
which  are  Tor,  Jebele,  Gedeheieh  fouth  of  it,  fomewhere  in  thofe  parts,  and 
Sharme,  which  I  had  apprehended  was  to  the  eaft  ;  but  I  have  fince  reafon 
to  think  it  is  towards  the  fouth  eaft  corner  of  this  promontory,  a  day  and 
a  half  from  Mount  Sinai,  where  they  have  boats,  and  from  whence  the 
convent  is  chiefly  fupplied  with  fifh.  About  north  north  eaft  of  this  place, 
as  I  conjecture,  on  the  fea,  and  three  days  from  the  convent,  they  told  me 
was  Dahab,  which  fome  people  have  thought  to  be  Ezion-geber,  becaufe 
of  the  name,  which  fignifies  gold  ;  fo,  excepting  thefe,  there  are  no  other 
names  of  places,  but  what  are  given  to  mountains,  vales,  winter  torrents, 
and  fprings. 

The  whole  country  is  inhabited  by  Arabs,  its  natural  inhabitants,  who  The  Arab;, 
live  under  tents,  and  ftay  in  one  place  as  long  as  they  have  water,  and 
fhrubs,  and  trees  for  their  camels  to  feed  on,  and  they  find  it  otherwife 
convenient,  for  there  is  no  tillage  nor  grafs  in  all  this  country.  All  their 
riches  confift  in  camels,  a  few  goats,  and  fometimes  fheep ;  fo  that  they 
live  gn  great  poverty,  having  nothing  but  a  few  dates  and  a  little  goat's 
milk,  and  bring  all  their  corn  eight  or  ten  days  journey  from  Cairo.  The 
Arabs  are  in  different  nations  or  clans,  each  under  its  great  Sheik,  and 
every  encampment  under  its  particular  Sheik.  All  round  by  the  fea  fide 
are  the  Mifenides  and  Penuafi,  who  are  a  good  people.  On  the  mountains, 
fouth  eaft  of  Suez,  are  the  Aiaidi,  a  bad  people,  and  have  poffefiion  of 
the  water  they  are  fupplied  with  at  Suez.  At  Suez  are  the  Arabs  call'd 
Beni  Soliman,  who  have  alfo  of  their  nation  at  Tor ;  their  Sheik  is  the 
moft  powerful  of  all,  and  has  an  influence  over  all  the  reft.  About  the 
convent  are  three  clans  maintain'd  by  it :  They  are  but  a  bad  people,-  thofe 
who  are  call'd  Elecat  are  the  beft.  Next  are  the  Soualli,  and  the  worft 
ot  all  the  Wecelcadifaid,  which  may  be  a  people  from  Said,  or  upper 
Egypt ;  and  I  obferved  among  the  Arabs  of  the  convent  the  particular 
manner  of  mufick  they  have  in  Said,  or  upper  Egypt.    All  thefe  Arabs  are 

Vol.  I.  N  n  united 


138  OBSERVATIONS 

united  in  a  fort  of  league  together;  are  very  honeft  among  thcmfelves  with 
regard  to  property,  and  if  one  gives  them  to  eat,  there  is  no  danger  of  any 
injury  from  them;  they  are  indeed  liberal  themfelves ;  and  if  they  kill  a 
fheep,  they  eat  it  all  at  once,  tho'  they  have  nothing  but  bread  for  their  food 
the  day  after,  which  is  an  univerfal  cuftom  among  the  Arabs  g  and  thev 
provide  of  what  they  have  for  all  that  come.  Any  one  of  thefe  Arabs  is 
a  protection  againft  all  the  reft,  for  they  ftrictly  obferve  that  law  with  one 
another  for  their  mutual  advantage.  •  The  Arabs  about  Accabah  are  call'd 
Allauni;  a  very  bad  people,  and  notorious  robbers,  and  are  at  enmity  with 
the  others.  Tho'  the  Arabs  in  thefe  parts  do  not  live  in  houfes,  yet  in 
moft  places  where  they  find  it  convenient  to  dwell,  they  build  little  houfes 
for  their  grain,  fome  of  which  I  faw  forfaken,  becaufe  the  water  had  fail'd. 

I  went,  in  Suez,  to  the  houfe  of  a  Greek  prieft,  and  the  next  day  met 
with  a  Turkifh  captain  of  a  fhip,  a  very  obliging  man,  who  gave  me  feve- 
ral  informations  in  relation  to  the  navigation  of  the  Red  fea.  Before  I  de- 
parted, the  good  prieft  alk'd  me  my  name,  that  they  might  pray  in  the 
church  for  my  good  journey,  which  is  only  a  way  they  have  of  defiring 
charity.  About  noon  on  the  firft  of  April,  we  croffed  over  the  bay  to  the 
eaft,  the  camels  being  fent  round  before.  They  had  received  an  account 
that  the  Gedda  fleet  was  coming ;  and  this  afternoon  we  faw  many  of 
them,  and  others  the  next  day. 

As  I  obferved  before,  Nabah  or  Nabate  is  to  the  eaft;  from  which  place 
they  bring  the  water,  and  over  it  are  the  mountains  call'd  Nouebeh.  Thefe 
names,  one  would  imagine,  were  fome  remains  of  the  antient  name  of  the 
Arabs,  call'd  Nabatasi that  were  in  Arabia  Petraa,  infomuch  that  the 
whole  country  has  been  call'd  from  them  Nabatsa.  The  mountains  here  goby 
the  general  name  ofTe,but  the  particular  parts  of  them  have  diftincl:  names. 
The  fprings  Three  or  four  hours  fouth  of  the  landing  place  from  Suez,  are  feveral 
of  Mofc.  fpringS  on  i;ttie  hillocks  call'd  Ein-Moufeh  (the Springs  of  Mofes.)  On  thefe 
rifing  grounds,  wherever  they  make  a  hole,  the  water  comes  up.  There 
are  but  four  or  five  open  now,  tho'  I  faw  the  places  where  about  a  dozen 
fprings  had  run.  The  water  where  it  rifes,  brings  up  the  fand  with  it, 
which  is  like  a  quagmire  all  round,  and  it  is  dangerous  to  approach  too 
near.  I  could  not  find  the  bottom  with  a  pole,  and  they  even  fay  that  ca- 
mels have  been  fwallow'd  up  in  them.  The  waters  are  warm,  faltifh,  and 
I  believe  there  is  fome  fmall  mixture  of  fulphur  in  them.  One  of  the 
fprings  notwithftanding  affords  tolerable  good  water.  Some  of  them  have 
been  wall'd  round,  probably  to  keep  up  the  water  for  cattle  to  drink, 
and  one  feem'd  to  have  had  ftone  channels  made  from  it.  There  are  two 
or  three  palm-trees  about  this  place.  One  would  be  apt  to  conjecture  that 
thefe  fprings  have  their  fource  in  the  neighbouring  mountains.  From  this 
place  a  point  ftretches  out  a  great  way  into  the  fea,  being  fouth  eaft  of  the 
fhipping,  and  breaks  the  fea  when  the  fouth  eaft  wind  blows.  Clyfma 
might  be  near  oppofite  to  this  part,  which  Ptolemy  places  twenty  minutes 
fouth  of  Arfinoe,  and  probably  it  was  between  mount  Attakah  and  mount 
Gewoubee.  Here  I  imagine  that  the  children  of  Ifrael  might  pafs  over  the 
Red  fea.  We  lay  here  in  the  open  air,  as  we  did  every  night  in  this  jour- 
ney, and  were  careful  not  to  have  any  fire  after  it  was  dark,  not  being  as 

wAfff^  A/AamTtir,   Wfe/ojxx'pEk©-    srcAAoif  xw^wf    rus  iii.  p.  176. 

yet 


ON    EGYPT.  139 

yet  in  a  fafe  country,  and  only  five  in  company.  I  faw  about  the  plain 
much  of  the  fmall  talc,  and  the  next  day  many  little  hills  full  of  it.  On 
the  fecond  we  went  on  through  the  fandy  defert,  and  came  to  a  rifing 
ground  cover'd  with  little  fhrubs,  being  the  point  that  makes  out  to  the 
weft,  oppofite  to  mount  Gewoubee.  Here  we  flopped,  after  having  tra- 
velled four  or  five  hours,  and  I  ventured  to  pitch  my  tent,  to  be  under  the 
lhade  of  it,  and  defended  from  the  heat  of  the  fun.  And  travelling  near 
three  hours  more,  we  came  to  the  plain  at  the  beginning  of  Birk-el-Co- 
rondel,  which  is  the  name  they  give  the  great  bay  of  Corondel.  We  were 
alarm'd  by  feeing  two  men  running  towards  us  from  the  eaft.  The  Arabs 
threw  off  part  of  their  garments,  laid  their  arms  bare  to  fight  with  the 
fabre,  and  prepared  their  firelocks.  They  proved  to  be  two  perfons  of  Suez 
that  were  in  thefe  parts  with  their  camels  ;  who  notwithstanding  would 
probably  have  robbed  us,  if  we  had  not  been  too  ftrong  for  them.  We 
came  to  the  defert  they  call  Shedur,  the  old  Shur,  and  went  on  an  hourDefcrtof 
longer,  and  came  to  a  place  full  of  fhrubs,  and  ftaid  there  for  the  fake 
of  grazing  the  camels.  Four  of  the  Gedda  fleet  were  anchor' d  near,  and 
we  had  oppofite  to  us  the  caftle  of  Shedur  on  the  hills  to  the  eaft.  On  the 
third  we  went  on,  and  in  an  hour  we  came  to  the  bed  of  the  winter  tor- 
rent, call'd  Ouardan,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  weft  of  the  road.  In  this  Ouardan. 
torrent  is  the  fpring  of  Ouardan  (Ein-El-Ouardan)  where  if  they  dig  a 
hole  three  feet  deep,  the  water  comes  plentifully  into  it,  probably  from 
the  fea.  The  water  feem'd  rough,  but  not  fait.  There  are  a  few  palm- 
trees  here.  The  Arabs  made  a  fliallow  hole  in  the  ground,  and  laid  in  it  a 
round  piece  of  leather,  and  taking  the  water  out  of  the  deep  hole  with  a 
bowl,  they  pour'd  it  into  this  leather,  and  fo  the  camels  drank,  that  were 
unloaded  and  brought  to  the  fpring.  We  ftaid  here  about  two  hours,  and 
going  on  came  to  a  fandy  plain,  and  in. three  hours  to  a  hill  confifting  al- 
moft  all  of  talc.  We  paffed  over  it  in  two  hours,  and  came  to  a  vale  between 
the  hills,  in  which  we  travelled  about  two  more,  and  afcending  again,  we 
had  on  the  eaft  Jebel-Houffan,  and  on  the  weft  Tebel-le-Marah,  where  to  the 
weft  there  is  a  fait  fpring.  This  feems  to  be  Marah,  mention'd  in  the  old  Marah. 
teftament.  We  came  to  the  vale,  or  the  bed  of  a  winter  torrent,  call'd  Co- 
rondel, having  travelled  about  eleven  hours  in  all.  This  place  is  full  of 
fhrubs,  and  has  many  tamarifks  in  it.  Here  we  ftaid  all  night,  but  found 
no  water.  The  day  had  been  cool  and  windy ;  and  towards  the  evening 
the  wind  raifed  the  duft  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  we  could  not  fee  far  before 
us.  Being  now  in  a  country  where  there  is  no  danger,  I  pitch'd  my  tent 
whenever  1  pleafed  ;  which  I  always  found  convenient  in  the  middle  of  the 
day,  againft  the  heat  of  the  fun.  jnO 

Beyond  the  vale  of  Corondel,  is  a  mountain  on  the  fea  call'd  Jebel-Ha-  Pharaoh's 
mam-Pharaone  (the  Mountain  of  Pharaoh's  bath.)  On  the  fide  of  this  bath' 
mountain  there  is  a  grotto  by  the  fea  fide,  to  which  there  are  two  mouths; 
one  of  them  leads  by  a  narrow,  low  paffage,  to  a  fource  of  very  hot  water, 
which  I  believe  exceeds  in  heat  the  baths  of  Abano  near  Padoua.  As  foon 
as  one  enters  this  paffage,  there  is  heat  enough  to  make  any  one  fweat  very 
plentifully.  A  little  further  in,  it  is  excefiively  hot ;  and  many  people  have 
died  that  have  gone  as  far  as  the  water,  by  a  vapour  that  extinguifhes  the 
lights.  The  water  runs  thro'  the  rock  and  fandy  banks,  in  a  great  number 
of  little  ftreams  into  the  fea  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  it  is  even  there 

exceedingly 


OBSERVATIONS 

fexceedingly  hot,  and  fo  are  the  ftones,  which  are  incrufted  with  a  white 
fubftance,  that  I  fuppofe  is  of  fait  and  fulphur.  The  water  is  fait; 
and  having  brought  a  bottle  to  Cairo,  it  was  found  to  be  impregnated  with 
much  earthy  grofs  fulphur,  a  neutral  fait,  and  a  fmall  quantity  of  allum, 
but  no  proportion  of  vitriol b.  It  is  of  fo  naufeous  a  tafte,  that  it  could 
not  be  taken  inwardly,  but  mult  be  ufed  by  bathing.  Thefe  waters  are 
efteem'd  much  for  barrennefs  in  women,  and  impotency  in  men,  and  are 
judged  to  be  good  in  moft  cutaneous  and  nervous  difbrdcrs.  They  have 
the  water  pour'd  on  them  firft  without,  and  then  in  the  palfage,  to  make 
them  fweat  more  plentifully;  this  they  do  only  once,  and  for  forty  days 
eat  nothing  but  oil,  honey,  and  bread  made  without  fait,  and  drink  only 
water  with  dates  fteep'd  in  it. 

On  the  fourth  we  came  in  three  hours  to  the  mountain  torrent,  call'd 
Woufet,  where  there  are  feveral  palm  trees,  and  a  fait  fpring,  that  I  thought 
had  a  chalvbeat  tafte.  In  three  hours  we  came  to  Taldi,  where  there  are 
date  trees,  and  as  they  told  me  a  fait  fpring.  In  half  an  hour  more  we 
pafs'd  Reifimah,  fo  call'd  from  a  Sheik  buried  there ;  on  whofe  tomb  the 
Mahometans  throw  a  piece  of  bread  as  they  pafs  by,  out  of  devotion. 
In  an  hour  more  we  came  to  a  narrow  valley  call'd  Menetfah,  where  the 
road  to  Tor  goes  to  the  fouth,  and  that  to  Mount  Sinai  to  the  eaft ;  but 
in  order  to  have  company,  my  Arab  would  carry  me  a  day's  journey 
round  about,  fo  we  went  in  a  long  valley  to  the  eaft,  in  which  we  lay. 
On  the  fifth,  continuing  in  it,  we  turn'd  to  the  north,  up  a  gentle  fandy 
afcent,  and  having  a  hill  to  the  fouth  weft,  call'd  the  Houfc  of  Pharaoh 
(Bait-El-Pharaone)  we  came  to  the  place  that  was  near  the  encampment 
of  our  Arabs.  Here  one  of  them,  who  had  a  difference  with  one  of  the 
company,  as  he  was  in  his  own  country,  came  and  brought  him  a  flower, 
as  a  prefent,  which  being  accepted  of,  was  a  fign  that  all  was  made  up. 
From  this  place  on  the  fixth,  I  purfued  my  journey,  only  with  one  Arab, 
going  weft,  and  leaving  the  road  to  Mount  Sinai  in  order  to  go  to  Tor, 
and  foon  came  into  a  narrow  valley,  which  is  the  bed  of  a  torrent  which  was 
dry,  as  all  the  others  were.  The  hills  are  very  high  on  each  fide,  confirm- 
ing of  a  great  variety  of  red  and  grey  granites,  moftly  with  fmall  grains ; 
and  in  fome  of  thefe  valleys  I  pick'd  up  fpecimens  of  the  moft  beautiful 
granites,  of  which  there  are  great  variety,  After  we  had  travell'd  a  few 
hours,  we  ftopp'd,  and  the  Arab  left  us  and  led  his  camels  to  a  fpring  at 
fome  diflance,  having  been  near  four  days  without  water.  In  the  even- 
ing we  pafled  by  an  encampment  of  Arabs,  who  invited  us  to  ftay  all  night, 
offerine;  to  kill  a  kid ;  but  the  Arab,  knowing  we  did  not  chcofe  to  ftop 
where  there  were  any  people,  told  them  we  were  in  hafte.    We  pafled 

•  Thefe  obfervations  were  made  on  this  water  bid  ;  but  (landing  twelve  hours,  there  was  a  great 
in  Grand  Cairo  :  fediment  of  a  dark  brewn  colour,  the  water  rc- 

1.  Scrapings  of  gall  being  put  into  it,  pro-    maining  white  and  troubled. 

duced  very  little  change  in  the  colour,  till  it  had  5.  Two  ounces  mix'd  with  jj  of  a  folution 

flood  a  confiderable  time,  when  it  turn'd  greenilh.  of  fublimate,  it  turn'd  prefently  yellow;  but  af- 

2.  Two  ounces  being  mixed  with  a  dram  of  ter  ftanding  fome  time,  a  little  woolly  unctuous 
fpirit  of  fal  atmoniac,  it  became  turbid,  and  matter  fettled  at  bottom. 

there  was  a  feulement  of  a  little  dark  grey  pow-  6.  Two  ounces  mix'd  with      of  ol.  tartar,  per 

der.  deliq.  it  turn'd  turbid,  and  of  a  pearl  colour. 

3.  It  hardly  chang'd  colour  when  mije'd  with  7.  Two  ounces  mix'd  with  of  fpirit  of  vi-  | 
fugar  of  violets.  triol,  it  fuffei'd  no  manner  of  change  as  to  its 

4.  Two  ounces  mix'd  with      of  a  folution  of  colour  or  elearnefs, 
facch.  Saturni,  it  became  immediately  very  tur- 

3  .  Ml 


ON  EGYPT. 


r 


by  one  place  where  we  faw  fome  garments  hanging  on  a  tree,  no  one 
being  near,  and  expreflmg  our  furprize  at  it,  the  Arab  faid  there  was  no 
danger  here,  they  were  all  honeft  people,  and  if  any  thing  was  loft,  the 
next  encampment  was  obliged  to  make  amends.  We  came  into  a  plainer 
country,  and  to  the  road  we  fhould  have  come  in,  and  after  to  the  torrent 
of  Pharan  (Waad-  Pharan)  the  bed  of  which  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad. 
On  the  fevcnth  we  turn'd  fouthward,  and  pafifed  over  a  hill  into  the  plain 
of  Baharum,  about  five  miles  wide,  having  only  the  mountains  of  Gah 
between  us  and  the  Sea;  we  travell'd  this  day  thirteen  hours.  On  the 
eighth  we  came  into  the  valley  of  Tor,  and  in  three  hours  to  the  palm 
grove  of  Tor  (Nach-El-Tor. )  At  the  firft  entring  of  it  there  is  a  fait 
fpring,  the  water  of  it  fpreads  over  the  ground,  and  the  fait  making  a 
cake  on  the  furface,  it  looks  like  dry  ground,  which  was  the  occafion 
of  an  accident  to  me,  which  is  look'd  on  as  extraordinary,  even  among 
the  Arabs,  and  is  generally  very  difaftrous ;  for  the  camel  going  on  this 
ground  flipt  and  fell  down,  and  I  came  off;  it  was  well  the  ground  was 
foft,  for  if  a  camel  falls  on  ftones  he  is  certainly  fpoil'd. 

Tor  is  a  fmall  village  on  the  eaft  fide  of  the  Red  fea,  and  lies  above  Tor. 
a  days  journey  near  weft  of  Mount  Sinai,  fo  that  it  is  a  day  further  to  go 
by  Tor  than  by  the  direct  road.  Near  it  is  a  ruin'd  caftle,  inhabited  by  the 
Arabs;  the  Greeks  call  this  place  Raitho  (Vouhu)  which  might  have  its 
name  from  being  inhabited  by  fome  of  thofe  people,  call'd  by  Ptolemy 
Raitheni,  towards  the  mountains  of  Arabia  Fcelix  c ;  it  is  inhabited  by 
Arabs,  and  about  twenty  families  of  the  Greek  church.  The  monks  of 
Mount  Sinai  have  a  convent  here,  to  which  they  have  fometimes  retired 
when  they  could  not  conveniently  ftay  at  Mount  Sinai;  only  one  prieft 
refides  in  it  for  the  fervice  of  the  church.  There  are  a  feci:  of  Mahome- 
tan Arabs  here,  called  Seleminites,  as  it  is  faid  from  their  having  a  particular 
regard  for  Solomon,  as  they  have  alfo  for  Abraham ;  they  feem  to  be  the 
antient  inhabitants  of  the  place,  for  they  have  the  principal  mofque  to 
which  all  the  others  go  every  Friday;  and  thefe  in  their  prayers  make 
mention  of  Solomon  as  well  as  Mahomet.  It  is  poffible  they  may  be  de- 
fcendants  of  fome  people  in  thefe  countries,  who  in  fome  manner  adhered  to 
the  Jewifh  religion ;  or  perhaps  may  be  of  the  race  of  Jethro  the  father-in-law 
of  Mofes.  About  a  league  north  of  Tor  is  a  well  of  good  water,  and  all 
about  it  are  a  great  number  of  date  trees  and  feveral  fprings  of  a  fait  warm 
water,  efpecially  to  the  fouth  eaft,  where  the  monks  have  their  garden.  Near 
it  are  feveral  fprings,  and  a  bath  or  cwo,  which  are  call'd  the  Baths  of  Mofes ; 
the  Greeks  as  well  as  fome  others  are  of  opinion,  that  this  is  Elim.  The 
greateft  curiofities  at  Tor  are  the  productions  of  the  Red  fea ;  the  fhell  fifh 
of  it  are  different  from  thofe  of  the  feas  to  the  north  of  it;  but  what  are  moll 
peculiar  to  it,  are  the  feveral  ftone  vegetables,  the  Madrepora,  a  fort  of 
coral,  the  fungi  or  mufhrooms,  and  the  red  pipe  coral.  I  went  to  the 
houfe  that  belongs  to  the  convent  of  Mount  Sinai,  where  I  was  entertain'd 
by  the  prieft :  I  had  a  letter  to  the  fteward  of  the  convent,  who  being  ab- 
fent,  his  fon  came  to  me  and  brought  me  a  prefent  of  fruit  and  fhells, 
invited  me  to  eat  at  his  houfe,  but  excufing  myfelf,  he  fent  his  provifions 
in  for  me. 


Vol.  I.  O  o 


To 


14a  OBSERVATIONS 

To  the  fouth  of  the  town  is  a  ruin'd  caftle  under  an  Arab  governor; 
and  three  or  four  miles  to  the  fouth  there  is  a  village  call'd  Jebelee :  Be- 
yond it  is  the  bay  of  Raie,  where  the  ihips  going  to  Suez  often  flay  when 
the  wind  is  contrary.  They  fay  the  Red  fea  here  is  half  a  day's  failing 
over,  though  I  think  it  cannot  be  above  ten  leagues.  Oppofite  to  Tor 
is  Jebel  Garib,  and  fouth  of  that  is  Jebel  Zeit,  that  is,  the  Mountain  of 
oil,  which  they  Jay  has  its  name  from  a  healing  water  there,  which  they 
Produftiom  think  has  the  effecT:  of  oil.  I  went  twice  into  the  Red  fea,  fwimming 
sL!hC  Rcd  over  tne  grovesj  if  1  may  f°  call  them,  of  coral  or  madrepore,  which 
is  fomewhat  dangerous,  and  pull'd  feveral  of  them  up ;  I  could  not  ob- 
fervethat  they  were  in  any  part  fofter  at  firft  taking  out  than  they  are  after- 
wards, but  I  took  notice  that  they  changed  their  colour  in  a  very  fhort  time; 
fome  that  were  reddifh  to  a  deep  yellow,  and  thofe  that  were  white  to  a 
pale  yellow.  I  faw  none  of  the  fungi,  or  tube  coral  growing,  the  latter 
is  found  at  about  the  diftance  of  a  day  and  a  half:  I  got  a  finer  piece 
of  it  than  ever  I  faw,  which  fhews  plainly  how  it  grows  with  a  round 
head  like  a  colly-flower. 

On  the  ninth  we  purfued  our  journey  towards  Mount  Sinai.  Crofting 
over  the  plain  to  the  eaft,  and  travelling  about  fix  hours,  we  lay  near  the 
entrance  into  a  narrow  vale,  having  join'd  fome  company  that  were  going 
that  way.  At  Tor  they  demanded  of  me  a  fmall  Caphar,  but  I  did  not 
pay  it,  and  a  Sheik  that  was  in  the  company  took  four  that  were  due  to 
him  on  the  road,  and  another  four  for  Mount  Sinai,  becaufe  his  anceftor 
having  afiifted  a  merchant,  who  had  like  to  have  had  a  dangerous  fall  at 
Mount  Sinai,  he  gave  him  four  Medines,  which  they  have  demanded  of 
every  one  that  has  come  fince  to  Mount  Sinai ;  fo  dangerous  a  thing  is  it 
to  give  the  Arabs  money  on  any  account  whatfoever.  We  faw  a  hill  with- 
in the  reft,  call'd  Jebel  Mefeka,  where  they  fay  there  was  formerly  a  con- 
vent. On  the  tenth  we  came  to  the  torrent  call'd  Waad  Hebran  be- 
tween the  high  hills  of  granite.  I  obferved  fome  infcriptions  on  the  large 
rocks  that  lay  about  the  valley,  and  after  faw  feveral  fuch  infcriptions  at 
Mount  Sinai ;  there  are  many  palm  trees  in  this  vale.  We  came  to  the 
fountain  Hebran,  which  is  a  little  running  ftream ;  and  to  fuch  another 
half  a  mile  further.  We  pafs'd  through  the  country  call'd  Diar  Frangi 
(the  country  of  the  Franks)  becaufe  they  fay  formerly  the  Franks  ufed  to 
come  there.  We  had  on  the  left  Jebel  Mofinewm,  that  is,  the  Hill  where 
Mofes  flept ;  we  had  left  the  convent  of  Pharan  to  the  north,  and  going 
on,  we  lay  out  of  the  road  in  a  little  valley  ;  for  they  feem'd  to  think 
there  was  fome  danger  here,  probably  being  near  the  Arabs  of  Mount  Si- 
nai. On  the  eleventh,  after  travelling  fome  time,  we  turned  to  the  fouth 
eaft,  and  went  up  a  narrow  vale  call'd  Negeb-Houah,  which  has  a  gentle 
afcent,  and  water  and  palm  trees  in  it,  there  being  the  bed  of  a  winter  torrent 
to  the  left.  We  here  pafs'd  over  a  fquare  fpot  encompafs'd  with  loofe 
ftones  ;  where  'tis  faid  they  firft  defign'd  the  convent,  but  they  pretend 
that  the  architect,  by  fome  miracle  was  led  to  build  it  where  it  ftands. 
Arrival  at  We  went  on  and  arrived  at  the  Greek  convent  of  St.  Catharine's,  com- 
MoumSlni"- monly  call'd  the  convent  of  Mount  Sinai,  being  on  the  foot  of  Mount 
Sinai,  at  the  north  eaft  fide  of  it;  I  was  drawn  up  in  a  machine,  by  a 
windlafs,  about  thirty  feet  high,  and  convey'd  through  a  window  into  the 
convent.    The  archbifhop  of  Mount  Sinai  was  not  here,  but  his  deputy 

and 


3 


ON  EGYPT. 


and  the  chief  of  the  convent  received  me  at  the  window,  and  ask'd  if  I 
would  go  firft  to  my  room,  or  to  the  church  ;  I  went  to  the  latter,  where 
they  fung  a  hymn,  and  conducted  me  to  the  fhrine  in  which  the  body  of  St. 
Catharine  was  depofited,  and  then  fhew'd  me  the  way  to  the  apartments 
they  have  allotted  for  ftrangers. 


CHAP.  III. 

Of  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  places  about  it. 

MOUNT  Sinai  in  general,  is  call'd  by  the  Arabs  Jebel  Mofes  (the 
Mountain  of  Mofes.)  It  is  one  hill  with  two  fummits :  The  Greeks 
divide  the  mountain  into  four  parts.   Half  way  up  the  mountain  is  a  little 
plain  L.  in  the  fifty-third  plate.    Between  the  two  fummits  to  the  north 
of  it,  is  what  they  call  Mount  Horeb.    To  the  fouth  is  the  height  Y.  cal- 
led properly  Mount  Sinai.    Mount  Serich  is  a  long  narrow  hill  to  the  weft 
of  Horeb.    Eaft  of  the  great  convent,  and  at  the  eaft  end  of  the  narrow 
vale,  which  is  north  of  Mount  Horeb,  is  a  round  hill  D.  which  the  Greeks 
call  the  Mount  of  Mofes.    It  joins  to  Mount  Sinai  on  the  fouth,  and  to 
Mount  Epifteme  on  the  north.    But  the  mountain  is  more  common- 
ly divided  into  Sinai  properly  fo  call'd,  and  Horeb.    I  fhall  fpeak  of  the 
feveral  parts  of  Mount  Sinai  in  general,  as  they  are  diftinguifh'd  by  the 
Greeks.    The  convent  of  Mount  Sinai  is  fituated  on  the  north  foot  of 
Mount  Horeb,  and  weft  of  the  Mount  of  Mofes ;  for  fo  I  chufe  to  exprefs 
myfelf,  though  the  valley  runs  from  the  fouth  weft  to  the  fouth  eaft.  At 
a  well  in  the  convent,  call'd  the  Well  of  Mofes,  they  fay,  Mofes  met  the 
daughters  of  Jethro :  That  on  the  Mount  of  Mofes  he  was  feeding  the 
flock  of  Jethro  his  father-in-law;  and  that  in  the  fpot  where  now  is  the 
chapel  of  the  Holy  Bufh,  adjoining  to  the  eaft  end  of  the  great  church 
of  the  convent,  grew  that  tree  which  appear'd  to  Mofes  as  if  it  burnt  and 
was  not  confirmed,  and  out  of  which  God  fpake  to  him.    In  a  garden 
near,  the  fathers  have  planted  a  bramble,  fuch  as  are  common  in  Europe, 
and  fay  it  was  fuch  a  bufh  in  which  this  miracle  was  wrought ;  though  fuch 
brambles  do  not  grow  in  thefe  parts;  but  they  tell  you  that  formerly  they 
did.    To  the  weft  and  fouth  of  Mount  Sinai,  and  that  part  of  it  call'd 
Mount  Serich,  is  a  narrow  vale,  call'd  the  vale  of  Jah,  h.  that  is,  the  vale 
of  God.    The  vale  to  the  weft  is  certainly  the  vale  of  Rephidim,  where 
the  Ifraelites  encamp'd  when  they  came  out  of  the  deferts  of  Sin.  Here  they 
fhew  the  rock  i.  which,  they  fay,  Mofes  ftruck  and  the  waters  flowed  out, 
when  God  told  him  he  would  ftand  before  him  upon  the  rock  in  Horeb, 
which  was  after  call'd  Maffah  and  Meribah;  it  is  on  the  foot  of  Mount 
Serich,  and  is  a  red  granite  ftone,  fifteen  feet  long,  ten  wide,  and  about 
twelve  feet  high.    On  both  fides  of  it,  towards  the  fouth  end,  and  at  top, 
the  ftone,  for  about  the  breadth  of  eight  inches,  is  difcolour'd,  as  by  the 
running  of  water;  and  all  down  this  part  on  both  fides  and  at  top,  are 
a  fort  ot  openings  or  mouths,  fome  of  which  refemble  the  lyon's  mouth  that 
is  fometimes  cut  in  ftone  fpouts,  but  appear  not  to  be  the  work  of  a  tool. 
There  are  about  twelve  on  each  fide,  and  within  every  one  is  an  hori' 
zontal  crack,  and  in  fome  alfo  a  crack  down  perpendicularly.    There  is 

alfo 


i44  OBSERVATIONS 

alfo  a  crack  from  one  of  the  mouths  next  to  the  hill,  that  extends  two  or 
three  feet  to  the  north,  and  all  round  the  fouth  end.  The  Arabs  call  this 
the  ftone  of  Mofes ;  and  they  put  herbs  into  thefe  mouths,  and  give  them 
their  camels,  as  a  fovereign  remedy,  as  they  think,  in  all  diforders  *.  It 
was  in  this  valley  that  Ifrael  fought  with  Amalek  ;  and  at  the  fouth  weft 
end  of  it,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai,  is  the  convent  of  the  forty  martyrs  R. 
where  the  fathers  have  only  a  fervant  who  takes  care  of  the  large  garden. 
Here  are  the  only  fruit  trees  in  all  thefe  parts,  which  they  have  of  almoft 
all  forts.  From  that  they  afcend  very  high  to  the  fouth  weft,  up  to  the 
mountain  of  St.  Catharine's  1.  and  on  the  fummit  of  it,  pretend  to  ihew 
Marine  ^  Pr'nt  m  tne  rock  where  the  body  of  that  faint  lay  ,-  who  being  tied  to 
a  wheel  at  Alexandria,  under  the  Emperor  Maxentius,  in  order  to  be  put 
to  death,  it  is  faid  the  wheel  fnapp'd  in  pieces ;  and  being  afterwards  be- 
headed, her  body  (according  to  her  prayer,  that  it  mould  not  come  into 
the  hands  of  infidels)  they  fay,  was  carried  by  angels  to  the  top  of  this 
mountain,  and  was  brought  to  the  convent  by  the  monks,  foon  after  it 
was  finifh'd.  About  a  third  of  the  way  up  is  the  fpring  of  Patridges,  m. 
which  the  Caloyers  fay  was  difcover'd  by  partridges,  who  flew  after  the 
body;  when  the  monks  refting  there,  who  brought  it  down,  and  fuf- 
fering  with  thirft,  the  birds  all  went  to  this  fpring,  by  which  means,  as  they 
fay,  they  found  the  water.  This  mountain  is  much  higher  than  any- 
other  in  thefe  parts;  and  when  one  is  at  the  top  of  it,  Mount  Sinai 
north  eaft  of  it  appears  but  low.  From  the  top  of  this  high  mountain  I 
faw  both  the  arms  of  the  Red  fea,  and  on  the  eaft  fide,  a  part  of  the  fea, 
fouth  of  this  promontory;  and  on  the  other  fide  into  Arabia  Fcelix.  This 
hill  is  a  fort  of  a  fpeckled  ftone  or  marble,  which  may  be  rerkon'd 
among  the  granite  kind ;  many  parts  of  which  are  dendrite  ftones  mark'd 
with  beautiful  figures  of  trees;  as  are  alfo  fome  of  the  red  granite  ftones 
of  Mount  Sinai,  but  are  inferior  to  thefe  in  beauty. 

The  vale  of  Jah  does  not  extend  the  whole  length  of  Mount  Sinai  and 
Horeb  to  the  north,  but  opens  into  a  plain  near  a  league  over  every  way, 
which  is  called  the  vale  of  Melgah,  n.  This  alfo  to  the  north  opens  into 
the  vale  of  Raha  o.  which  is  to  the  weft  of  the  vale  of  the  convent 
that  is  between  Mount  Horeb  and  Mount  Epifteme.  Oppofite  to  the 
vale  of  Melgah  to  the  north  is  the  vale  of  Sheik  Salem,  c.  it  is  to 
the  weft  of  Mount  Epifteme,  of  which  I  fhall  have  occafion  to  make 
mention.  Thefe  two  vales  of  Melgah  and  Raha,  I  take  to  be  the 
.defert  of  Sinai,  into  which  the  children  of  Ifrael  moved,  before  Mofes 
was  called  up  into  the  mount,  and  they  remained  here  about  two  years. 
It  is  to  be  obferv'd  that  the  fummit  of  Mount  Sinai,  where  God  gave  the 
law,  is  not  to  be  feen  from  either  of  them,  and  from  very  few  places; 
not  from  any  that  I  could  obferve  to  the  north  or  north  weft,  being  hid 
by  Mount  Horeb.  In  the  plain  of  Melgah  is  a  well  dug  through  the 
rock  ;  and  weft  of  the  vale  of  Raha  there  is  a  narrow  paflage  to  the  eaft, 
between  the  mountains;  and  fuch  another  well  is  dug  at  the  entrance  of 
it,  which  is  called  Beer  Aboufely.  In  this  paflage  there  is  water  and  palm 
trees;  and  it  is  probable  the  encampment  of  the  children  of  Ifrael  ex- 
tended this  way,  which  might  be  a  part  of  the  defert  of  Sinai.  From 
the  fouth  eaft  corner  of  this  vale  there  is  a  gentle  afcent,  between  Mount 
Serich  and  Mount  Horeb,  which  leads  up  to  mount  Horeb,  pafles  by  the 
*  Views  of  three  fides  of  this  ftone  may  be  feen  in  the  fifty-third  Plate. 

chapels 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  145 

chapels  of  St.  Panteleemon  and  St.  John  Baptift,  between  the  fummits  of 
Mount  Horeb,  and  fo  goes  into  the  little  plain  between  Mount  Horeb  and 
Mount  Sinai.  This  is  call'd  the  road  of  Serich  ;  and,  according  to  a  tra- 
dition they  have,  it  is  very  probable  that  Mofes  went  up  to  Mount  Sinai 
this  way,  being  the  eafieft  afcent  of  the  three  ways  up  to  the  mountain, 
and  neareft  to  the  fuppofed  defert  of  Sinai.  Coming  out  from  this  road, 
into  the  vale  of  Rahah,  about  a  furlong  to  the  weft,  is  the  fpot  p.  where 
they  fay  Aaron  caft  the  head  of  the  calf ;  for  there  being  a  hole  in  the  rock 
fomewhat  in  the  fhape  of  a  head,  they  will  have  it  that  the  head  of  the  calf 
was  caft  there,  which  the  Ifraelites  worffiipped  ;  for  they  fpeak  of  the  head 
of  this  animal  as  the  object,  of  their  adoration.  Near  it  is  an  advanced  rock, 
which  fecms  to  be  form'd  naturally  into  fteps.  They  fay  the  idol  was 
placed  on  it;  and  certainly  a  fitter  place  could  not  be  chofen  to  expofe  fuch 
an  idol  on,  as  it  is  feen  from  all  the  neighbouring  vallies.  On  the  north 
fide  of  the  vale  of  Melgah,  is  a  fort  of  a  narrow  bed  of  a  winter  torrent 
q.  which  the  Greeks  call  Dathan  and  Abiram,  and  fay  thofe  finners  were 
there  fwallow'd  up  by  the  earth  ;  but  when  this  happen'd,  they  had  left 
the  defert  of  Sinai  :  And  the  laft  place  mention'd  before  this  account  is 
Hazeroth,  in  the  defert  of  Paran. 

It  is  conjectured  by  fome  that  the  derivation  of  the  name  of  mount  Mount  Sinai. 
Sinai,  is  from  (nJD )  in  the  Hebrew,  which  fignifies  a  bufh,  on  account  of 
the  dendrite  ftones  of  this  mountain,  which  are  full  of  the  figures  of  trees 
or  fhrubs  ;  or,  it  might  have  its  name  from  fome  part  of  it  abounding  in 
fuch  fhrubs.  Sine,  alfo  in  the  Pcrfian  language,  fignifies  a  breaft  ;  fo  that 
probably  it  has  its  name  from  the  Hebrew,  or  from  the  other  Eaftern  word, 
as  mount  Sinai  and  mount  Catharine  are  the  higheft  hills  in  all  thefe  parts, 
and  poffibly  might  be  likened  to  the  breafts  of  the  human  body.  It  is  alfo 
in  the  eaftern  writers  often  call'd  Thor,  by  way  of  eminence,  which  figni- 
fies a  mountain  ;  and  fomctimes  it  is  call'd  Thour  Sinai,  tho'  fome  eaftern 
writers  pretend  that  both  the  mountains  and  the  town  had  their  name  from 
a  fon  oflfhmael. 

The  moft  ufual  way  up  to  mount  Sinai,  is  that  which  is  call'd  the  way 
of  the  fteps,  which  begins  at  the  convent  on  the  north  fide  of  mount  Ho- 
reb, the  fteps  are  narrow,  of  the  rough  red  granite  of  the  mountain  ;  in 
the  different  parts  of  which  there  is  a  great  variety  of  granites,  fome  being 
of  the  grey  kind.  Afcending,  one  paffes  by  a  fine  fpring  E.  in  the  fifty- 
third  plate,  and  after  a  chapel  of  St.  Mary,  F.  concerning  which  they  have 
fome  hiftories.  Further  is  a  narrow  gateway  G.  at  a  pafs  up  the  mountain, 
and  beyond  that  a  fecond.  It  is  faid  that  all  Chriftians  ufed  to  receive  the 
facrament  on  the  top  of  mount  Sinai,  and  deliver'd  a  certificate  to  the 
keeper  of  the  firft  gate,  that  they  had  confeffed  at  the  convent  below ;  and 
receiving  another  paper  there,  deliver'd  it  at  the  fecond  gate,  which  is  juft 
at  the  entrance  into  the  little  plain  fpot  I.  between  Horeb  and  Sinai,  where 
there  is  a  well  and  a  pool  of  water  to  the  fouth.  At  K.  is  the  afcent  up 
to  mount  Sinai  ;  to  the  weft  is  the  road  L.  call'd  the  road  of  God,  (Derb  le 
Jah)  which  has  its  name  from  the  vale  it  leads  down  to,  in  which  is  the 
convent  of  The  forty  martyrs.  To  the  north  weft  is  the  road  before-men- 
tion'd,  which  Mofes  is  thought  to  have  ufed,  call'd  Derb  Serich  ;  it  paffes 
between  the  little  fummits  of  mount  Horeb,  which  hill  abounds  in  fmall 
fhrubs  and  aromatic  herbs,  where  they  feed  their  cattle.    There  are  alfo 

Vol.  I.  P  p  among 


OBSERVATIONS 

among  them  feveral  white  thorn  trees,  which  I  had  not  feen  any  where  in 
the  eaft,  except  about  Antioch  ;  and  if  the  monks  had  not  determined  it 
to  a  bramble,  one  would  rather  imagine  this  was  the  tree  which  is  call'd 
a  bulh,  and  alfo  that  this  was  the  fpot,  being  a  retired  place  and  proper 
for  pafturage,  whereas  the  other  has  no  herbage  about  it;  but  it  is  certain 
that  in  Juftinian's  time,  when  the  convent  was  founded,  the  tradition  was 
of  the  place  of  the  convent,  tho'  I  don't  find  that  they  had  this  tradition 
in  the  Bmprefs  Helena's  time,  who  built  a  tower  within  the  fite  of  the  pre- 
fent  convent,  when  fhe  came  to  this  place  from  Jerufalem,  and  made  thofe 
fteps  up  to  Mount  Sinai,  of  which  there  are  ftill  fome  remains ;  tho'  fome 
fay  that  fhe  founded  the  chapel  of  the  holy  bufh. 

About  Mount  Horeb  there  are  four  chapels ;  St.  John  Baptift  O.  The 
holy  girdle  of  the  virgin  Mary,  St.  Panteliemon  P.  and  St.  Anne, 
On  a  height  over  St.  Panteleimon,  there  is  a  long  cell  cut  out  of  the 
rock  R.  where  they  fay  two  brothers,  the  fons  of  fome  King,  lived  as  her- 
mits. And  near  St.  John's  chapel  is  a  building  with  three  cells  in  it  S. 
which  belonged  to  a  hermit  of  the  name  of  Gregory.  Returning  to  the 
plain,  to  the  fouth  weft  of  it  is  a  cell  under  a  rock  T.  where  St.  Stephen  a 
hermit  lived.  At  the  very  firft  afcent  up  to  Mount  Sinai,  from  the  vale 
of  Elias,  are  two  chapels  adjoining  to  one  another,  dedicated  to  Elias  and 
Elifha  M.  and  on  the  north  fide  of  them  is  a  chapel  now  ruin'd,  dedicated 
to  St.  Marina.  Within  the  chapel  of  Elias  there  is  a  little  grott,  where 
they  fay  that  prophet  dwelt  when  he  fled  to  this  place :  And  now  the 
Arabs  call  the  way  to  Jerufalem  Derb  Helele,  which  they  told  me  fignified 
the  road  of  Elias.  Going  up  that  fteep  afcent  to  Mount  Sinai,  fouthward, 
is  the  print  or  fhape  of  a  camel's  foot,  w.  for  which  the  Mahometans  have 
a  great  veneration,  and  they  fay  it  is  the  print  of  the  foot  of  Mahomet's 
camel  ;  for  they  have  a  Itory  that  he  and  his  camel  were  taken  by  Gabriel 
up  into  heaven,  that  another  foot  was  in  Cairo,  the  third  in  Mecca,  and 
the  fourth  in  Damafcus;  and  tho'  fuch  a  camel  muft  have  been  of  an  ex- 
traordinary fize,  yet  the  figure  of  this  foot  is  not  bigger  than  ordinary.  A 
little  higher  is  a  great  ftone  hanging  out  from  the  rock  X.  and  they  have 
fome  ftory  that  Elias  was  there  forbid  to  go  further,  as  to  afcend  higher 
was  permitted  only  to  Mofes.  At  length  we  arrived  at  the  top  of  this  moun- 
tain Y.  which  is  but  fmall ;  a  plan  of  it  may  be  feen  in  the  fifty-third 
plate.  It  confifts  of  two  little  fummits;  one  at  the  landing-place  A.  the 
other  B.  a  little  to  the  fouth ;  on  the  latter  is  a  fmall  mofque  C.  under 
a  rock,  at  the  fouth  eaft  corner  of  it,  is  a  little  grott  D.  which  is  likewife 
a  fort  of  a  mofque  in  the  poffeflion  of  the  Mahometans.  Here  they  fay 
Mofes  faded  forty  days ;  and  there  is  an  imperfe£t  Greek  infcription  on  the 
ftone,  which  feems  to  be  older  than  the  beginning  of  the  Mahometan 
religion ;  it  is  the  tenth  infcription  in  the  fifty-fifth  plate.  On  the  other 
fummit  of  the  mountain,  is  the  Greek  church  of  our  Saviour  E.  and 
north  of  it  a  fmaller  F.  belonging  to  the  Latins.  According  to  the  tradi- 
tion they  have  in  the  country,  Mofes  received  the  law  on  the  fpot  where 
thefe  churches  are.  To  the  north  of  thefe  churches,  and  adjoining 
to  the  church  of  the  Latins,  is  a  great  rock  G.  about  nine  feet  fquare, 
which  is  almoft  as  high  as  the  top  of  the  church.  It  is  fomewhat  difficult 
to  get  to  the  top  of  it,  being  the  very  higheft  point  of  the  mountain.  Un- 
der the  weft  fide  of  this  rock  is  a  cavity,  in  which  any  one  may  conveni- 
ently 

3 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  147 

ently  lie  ;  and  from  it  there  is  a  crack  in  the  rock  to  the  eaft,  thro'  which 
one  may  fee  the  light.  This  is  faid  to  be  the  place  from  whence  Mofes 
faw  the  back  parts  of  the  Lord,  when  he  told  him  "  that  he  would  put 
"  him  into  a  clift  of  the  rock,"  Exodus  xxxiii.  it.  The  common  people 
fay  the  rock  inclined  forward,  that  Mofes  might  not  fee,  and  that  lifting 
himfelf  up  to  look,  he  left  the  impreffion  of  his  back  in  the  top  of  the 
cell.  The  Mahometans  have  a  great  veneration  for  this  place,  and  it  is  faid 
often  facrifice  at  it;  and  I  faw  the  entrails  of  beafts  near  their  mofque. 
In  the  plan  of  the  top  of  the  mountain  H.  is  a  ciftern  that  was  made  a- 
bove  ground,  as  may  be  fuppofed  to  hold  the  rain  water.  I.  is  an  arched 
building,  which  might  alfo  be  a  ciftern.  They  fay  there  were  three  thou- 
fand  fteps  from  the  convent  to  the  top  of  the  hill ;  five  hundred  of  which 
to  the  fpring,  one  thoufand  more  to  St.  Mary's  chapel,  five  hundred  to 
St.  Elias's  chapel,  and  thence  a  thoufand  to  the  top.  Eaft  of  the  moun- 
tain, at  the  foot  of  it,  is  a  little  valley  Z.  which  is  weft  of  the  great  valley, 
there  being  a  rifing  ground  between  them.  This  is  call'd  the  valley-  of 
Seer,  and  is  the  only  place  that  retains  any  thing  of  the  name  of  Mount 
Seer,  which  the  Ifraelites  are  faid  to  have  compaffed  in  their  travels  about 
the  wildernefs,  which  might  be  a  general  name  for  many  mountains.  The 
north  part  of  Mount  Sinai  is  of  red  granite  for  above  half  way  up,  all  the 
reft  being  a  granite  of  a  yellowifh  ground,  with  fmall  black  grains  in  it, 
and  the  mountain  at  a  diftance  appears  of  two  colours. 

Mount  Epifteme,  a.  is  fo  call'd  from  a  woman  of  that  name,  who  lived  Mount  Epi- 
on  it  with  her  huiband  Galaktion,  and  afterwards  a  nunnery  was  founded  eme' 
there,  the  ruins  of  which  are  ftill  to  be  feen.  At  the  fouth  weft  corner 
of  this  mountain,  at  the  entrance  both  into  the  valley  of  Sheik  Salem,  and 
into  that  of  the  convent  from  the  valley  of  Rahah,  there  is  a  little  hill  b. 
call'd  by  the  Arabs  Araone,  and  by  the  Greeks  the  tabernacle  of  the  tefti- 
mony,  (n  uy.rt)t\  tS  pxglvpa,)  where  they  fay  Aaron  was  confecrated ,  and  where 
he  firft  ofter'd  up  folemn  prayers  to  God  ;  fo  that  if  there  is  any  regard  to 
be  had  to  this  tradition,  it  is  probable  that  on  this  very  hill  was  placed  the 
tabernacle  of  the  teftimony  of  the  congregation,  which  Mofes  was  order'd 
to  place  without  the  camp  afar  off. 

In  one  of  the  roads  from  the  convent  to  Suez,  there  is  exactly  fuch  ano- 
ther ftone  as  the  rock  of  Mafia  and  Meribah  in  Rephidim,  with  the  fame 
fort  of  openings  all  down,  and  the  figns  where  the  water  ran.  I  was  de- 
firous  to  pafs  by  it  in  my  return,  but  unfortunately  was  led  another  way.  I 
afked  the  Arabs  about  it,  who  told  me  it  was  likewife  call'd  the  ftone  of 
Mofes,  and  that  they  judged  it  had  the  fame  virtues  as  the  other.  The 
firft  account  I  had  of  it,  I  can  very  much  depend  upon,  being  from  a  ma- 
nufcript  journal,  writ  by  the  prefent  Prefetto  of  Egypt  from  the  Progagan- 
da  Fide,  who  went  this  journey  with  an  Englifh  gentleman  now  in  London. 
The  way  to  it  is  by  the  valley  of  Sheik  Salem,  being  about  fixteen  miles 
from  the  convent  to  the  north  weft.  The  reafon  why  I  am  fo  particular 
is,  becaufe  it  is  faid  that  this  muft  be  the  rock  Meribah,  in  the  wildernefs 
,  ofZin,  or  Kadelh,  which  Mofes  fmote  twice,  and  the  water  came  out  a- 
bundantly,  being  after  they  return'd  into  thefe  parts  from  Eziongeber ;  tho' 
the  father  took  no  notice  of  this  particular,  but  only  relates  what  he  ob- 
ferved.  About  four  hours  from  the  convent,  in  this  road,  is  a  ftone  the 
Arabs  pay  a  great  refpecl  to,  having  a  tradition  that  Mahomet  fat  on  it 

when 


OBSERVATIONS 

when  he  came  to  this  convent.  I  could  find  no  tradition  amongft  the 
monks  that  Mahomet  was  born  here,  or  was  a  fervant  to  the  convent,  as 
fome  have  faid,  but  found  in  a  hiftory  of  the  convent,  that  he  was  born  m 
the  deferts  of  Kinfi,  in  Arabia  Felix;  and  that  when  he  came  to  the  con- 
vent, he  was  honourably  entertain'd  by  them,  and  granted  that  patent  of 
their  privileges  in  particular,  and  of  Chriftians  in  general,  which  was  in 
their  hands  to  the  time  of  Sultan  Selim,  who  efteeming  it  too  precious  a 
treafure  to  be  in  their  pofTeiTion,  took  it  from  them,  and  granted  them  one 
under  his  own  hand  in  the  fame  terms.  They  have  great  privileges  grant- 
ed in  this  patent;  but  the  conditions  proved  to  be  hard,  to  give  food  to  all 
comers.  A  copy  of  it  may  be  feen  in  the  laft  chapter,  tranflated  from  the 
modern  Greek.  The  famous  Sinaic  infcription,  mention'd  by  Kircher,  is 
on  a  fmall  ftone  about  half  a  mile  to  the  weft  of  the  convent,  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  Horeb.  Some  have  faid  that  Jeremiah  hid  under  it  the  vefFels 
of  the  temple  ;  but  the  place  where  he  depoflted  them  was  at  Mount  Nebo. 
Others,  with  lefs  appearance  of  truth,  fay  that  Mofes  and  Aaron  are  buried 
under  it.  It  is  faid  the  Arabs  have  fometimes  feen  a  light  about  it,  and 
imagining  the  ftone  to  have  a  virtue  in  it,  have  broken  off  pieces  from  it, 
as  a  remedy  taken  as  a  powder,  when  they  are  not  well,  and  fo  the  in- 
fcription  is  almoft  entirely  defaced.  However,  I  faw  enough  of  it  to  be 
allured  that  it  is  the  fame  infcription  that  is  in  Kircher,  of  which  I  had  a 
copy  by  me,  which  he  fays  was  compared  by  two  or  three  perfons ;  and 
what  remains  of  it  may  be  feen  in  the  eighty-fixth  infcription  of  the  fifty- 
fourth  plate  f  ■  There  are  on  many  of  the  rocks,  both  near  thefe  moun- 
tains and  in  the  road,  a  great  number  of  infcriptions  in  an  antient  cha- 
racter; many  of  them  I  copied,  and  obferved  that  moft  of  them  were  not 
cut  but  ftain'd,  making  the  granite  of  a  lighter  colour,  and  where  the 
ftone  had  fcaled,  I  could  fee  the  ftain  had  funk  into  the  ftone.  I  obferved 
one  particularly  that  is  a  black  ftone  both  within  and  without,  and  the  in- 
fcription is  white  *,  An  explanation  of  the  views  I  have  given  of  Mount 
Sinai  in  the  fifty-fecond  plate,  may  be  feen  below  ||. 

There 


-f  The  Greeks  call  this  infcription  QtS  ^et^nUa 
y^djx^ala.^  {the  words  of  God  engraved.)  This  in- 
fcription may  be  feen  in  Kircher's  Prodromus  Cop- 
ticus. 

*  I  took  the  following  account  of  the  places 
where  thefe  infcriptions  were  found,  as  I  have 
number'd  them. 

1 .  Half  way  up  to  the  vale  of  St.  Elias,  from 
the  convent. 

2,  3, 4,  5,  6,  7,  1 1 ,  Near  St.  Elias's  chapel. 

8.  On  the  ftone  where  they  fay  Mofes  lay  hid. 

9.  On  a  rock  near. 

10.  The  Greek  infcription  in  the  grotto  where 
they  fey  Mofes  faded  forty  days. 

12.  Going  up  tlie  mountain  of  St.  Catharine. 

13,  14.  About  the  foot  of  St.  Catharine's. 

15,  16,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21.  On  a  ftone  at  the 
foot  of  St.  Catharine's,  directly  fouth  of  the  top 
of  Mount  Sinai. 

22,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27.  On  a  ftone  near. 

28.  On  another  ftone  near. 

29'  3°>  3 '»  32-  On  a  ftone  near  the  convent  of 
the  forty  martyrs,  which  is  hollow,  as  for  a  her- 
mit's cell. 

33.  On  a  ftone  near. 


34)  35>  36-  On  a  ftone  near  the  convent  of  the 
forty  martyrs. 

37.  More  to  the  fouth. 

38,  39,  40.  On  different  ftones  near. 

41.  On  a  black  ftone,  the  letters  being  white. 

42,  43,  44,  45,  56,  57,  46,  59,  62,  63,  64, 
47.  On  feveral  ftones  about  the  convent  of  the 
forty  martyrs. 

65.  Near  the  ftone  of  Rephidim. 

66.  North  of  Rephidim,  at  fome  diftance. 

67.  68.  On  the  fame  ftone  as  65. 

69,  70.  On  the  ftone  of  Rephidim,  in  fmall 
black  letters. 

7  r.  On  a  ftone  near. 
72,  73.  On  another  ftone. 
48,  49s  50.  On  a  great  ftone. 
51.  On  a  ftone  near. 

74, 75.  On  a  ftone  in  which  there  is  a  large  crack. 

77,  52.  On  different  ftones. 

78,  53,  80,  81,  82,  83.  On  feveral  ftones  a- 
bout  St.  Cofmas  and  Damianus. 

84.  Near  the  church  call'd  St.  Mary  CEconomo. 

||  Explanation  of  the  fifty-fecond  plate. 
A.  Mount  Sinai,  as  it  appears  from  Mount 
Horcb. 

B.  The 


I  .-148 


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IKSCRIPTIO  UASI  MEMlfOKIS  INSCUXPTA 


ACKMWIOAQTOY 
Xu£INElNA\\H3t7HV£\JNoN0JXHH?rA%LQKtlM 

A / rVTT TOY  MI3YKH1CIN  Y1T0>>-  frlYtl M° NAJToTA M A 

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TON  KeOsAKHC  AHCTHToNAXl\k<  C  A  ^LHTGH  ITO  vuti 

>  fc  eirec  eki  T6d \uujHireNioec  cAhtni 


ON    EGYPT.  149 

There  are  other  convents  and  chapels  about  the  mountains,  befides  thole 
I  have  mention'd ;  as  at  the  north  end  of  the  olive  garden  of  The  forty- 
martyrs,  is  the  chapel  and  cell  of  St.  Onuphrius,  the  latter  being  under 
a  rock.  On  the  fouth  fide  of  the  valley  of  Melgah  is  the  convent  of  The 
apoftles  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  r.  where  the  monaftery  keeps  a  lervant.  On 
the  eaft  fide  of  it  is  the  ruin'd  convent  of  St.  Mary  of  David.  Oppo- 
fite  to  this,  over  the  hills  to  the  weft,  is  the  valley  of  Teleh  t.  a  pleafant 
retired  place,  where  there  is  much  water,  and  feveral  gardens.  Here  is 
the  fmall  convent  of  St.  Cofmas  and  Damianus  u.  in  which  there  is  a 
fervant.  To  the  north  there  is  a  ruin'd  building,  called  by  the  fathers  The 
prifon  of  St.  John  Climax,  from  a  cell  of  that  hermit  under  a  rock  that 
is  beyond  it.  This  prifon  was  a  fort  of  a  convent,  to  which  they  fome- 
times  fent  their  monks  to  do  penance ;  and  under  it  is  a  fmall  grott  in  the 
rock.  They  were  at  firft  hermits  here,  and  it  is  faid  that  the  hermits  of 
this  place  and  of  St.  Saba  (the  convent  I  fuppofe  near  Jerufalem)  petitioned 
the  Emperor  Juftinian  to  build  them  a  convent,  which  he  accordingly  did. 

The  Emprefs  Helena  feems  to  have  laid  the  firft  foundation  of  the  great 
convent,  in  a  tower  fhe  built,  probably  for  her  own  convenience,  when  ihe  Comem  M 
came  here,  as  well  as  for  the  monks;  it  is  in  the  heart  of  the  convent, 
where  the  archbifhop's  lodgings  now  are;  it  is  ftill  called  St.  Helen's 
tower,  and  has  in  it  three  chapels.  This  convent  is  built  on  a  defcent, 
but  the  defign  feem'd  to  have  been  to  raile  the  lower  part  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  arches,  many  of  which  remain,  and  to  have  built  the  firft  floor  on 
a  level,  and  raifed  two  more  on  it ;  for  the  walls  round  have  three  tiers  of 
windows  or  holes:  There  is  nothing  of  antient  building  but  thefe  walls 
and  arches,  and  the  church,  which  are  well  built,  of  large  hewn  ftone 
of  a  coarfe  red  granite.  The  walls  are  fix  feet  thick,  fome  part  of  them 
are  ruined,  efpecially  almoft  all  the  fouth  fide,  which  is  rebuilt  of  rough 
ftone.  There  is  a  walk  all  round,  on  the  top  of  the  walls ;  the  old  gate 
now  built  up  is  on  the  weft  fide;  there  is  fome  fign  of  a  Greek  infeription 
over  it,  but  fuch  as  I  believe  would  not  be  legible,  if  any  one  could  come 
near  it.  They  enter  from  the  garden  by  a  fmall  door,  the  great  door  ne- 
ver being  open'd  but  when  the  archbifliop  firft  comes  to  the  convent.  Be- 
fore it  there  is  a  court  wall'd  round,  with  the  entrance  built  up,  to  keep 
the  Arabs  from  it,  left  they  fhould  force  their  way  in;  fo  that  all  the 
people  are  drawn  up  to  a  window  about  forty  feet  high.  The  convent  is 
very  irregular  and  ill  built,  of  unburnt  brick:  The  walls  having 
little  fquare  towers  at  each  corner,  and  in  the  middle  of  each  fide.  The 
whole  is  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet  long,  from  eaft  to  weft,  and 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet  broad  from  north  to  fouth.  They 
have  their  mills,  bakehoufes,  and  all  offices  that  are  neceiTary  for  people 
who  muft  have  every  thing  within  themfelves.  The  great  church  of  the 
Transfiguration  is  on  the  lowed  ground  of  the  convent,  towards  the  north 
eaft  corner;  it  conlifts  of  a  nave,  an  ifle  on  each  fide  built  lower,  and  three 

B.  The  hill  of  Mofes,  where  it  is  faid  he  fed  D.  Mount  Horeb,  as  it  appears  on  the  north 
the  flock  of  Jethro  his  father-in-law,  extending  on  fide. 

one  fide  to  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai,  and  on  the  E.  Mount  Horeb  on  the  weft, 

other  to  the  foot  of  Mount  Epifteme.  F.  Mount  Horeb. 

C.  Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Horeb,  as  they  G.  Mount  Serich. 
appear  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  of  St.  Ca-  H.  Mount  Sinai, 
tharine. 


chapels 


OBSERVAT I  0  N  S 

chapels  on  the  outfide,  built  ftill  lower  than  the  ifles ;  the  roof  of  it  is 
of  cyprefs,  cover'd  with  lead,  and  Teems  to  be  as  old  as  the  time  of  Juf- 
tinian;  for  on  the  beams  are  fome  infcriptions  to  the  honour  of  Juftinian 
and  his  Emprefs  Theodora,  whofe  piftures  are  likewife  in  Mofaic,  over 
the  arch  of  the  femicircle  of  the  high  altar.  There  are  two  rows  of  co- 
lumns in  the  church,  which  I  difcover'd  to  be  of  the  coarfe  granite ;  for 
they  are  plaifter'd  over ;  the  capitals  are  all  different,  though  doubtlefs 
made  for  the  church;  fome  of  them  are  bad  imitations  of  the  Corinthian 
order.  The  eaft  femicircle  has  round  it  three  degrees  of  feats  like  fieps, 
and  in  the  middle  the  archiepifcopal  chair;  they  fay,  by  fome  miracle 
they  were  fcrmerly  forbid  fitting  in  it,  fo  now  they  put  the  tabernacle  on 
it,  in  which  are  preferved  the  holy  myfteries.  The  church  was  very  beau- 
tifully paved ;  but  being  deftroy'd  by  fome  Turks,  who  thought  to  find 
treafures,  it  was  as  beautifully  repaired  in  the  laft  century,  under  the  arch- 
bifhop  Athanafius ;  and  there  is  in  it  a  great  variety  of  beautiful  and  coft- 
ly  marbles,  brought  from  Damafcus.  There  is  an  inclofed  portico  be- 
fore the  church,  and  a  tower  feems  to  have  been  defign'd  at  each  end, 
over  the  chapels  at  the  corner.  This  church  is  probably  a  very  perfeft 
model  of  an  antient  Greek  church.  On  the  partition  between  the  high 
altar  and  the  church  is  a  marble  cheft  adorned  with  reliefs  of  foliages,  in 
which  are  preferved  the  relicks  of  St.  Catharine.  Among  them  is  the 
ikull  which  probably  is  imperfeft,  becaufe  it  is  not  taken  out,  and  the  left 
hand  very  perfeft,  having  on  the  fingers  feveral  rings;  and  is  adorned 
with  pearls.  The  Greeks  fay  the  whole  body  is  in  it,  which  may  be  much 
doubted.  Adjoining  to  the  eaft  end  of  the  church  is  the  chapel  of  The 
holy  bufh,  which,  they  fay,  grew  where  there  now  lies  a  white  marble 
ftone  under  the  altar,  which  they  kifs  with  great  devotion;  no  one  en- 
tering into  the  chapel  without  putting  off  their  fhoes.  To  the  north  of 
this  is  a  chapel,  and  there  is  another  on  the  fouth  fide  of  it;  the  latter 
is  call'd  the  chapel  of  The  holy  fathers;  and  it  appears  by  a  Greek  in- 
fcription,  that  twelve  martyrs  are  there  buried,  who  are  fuppofed  to 
be  of  the  number  of  the  forty  thoufand  martyrs.  In  the  fifty-fixth 
plate  is  a  plan  of  the  convent  and  the  church ;  the  explanation  of 
which  may  be  feen  below  *.    About  the  convent  are  fixteen  other  cha- 


*  I  was  not  fo  evafc  in  the  plan  of  the  convent, 
as  of  the  church,  the  buildings  being  all  ill  con- 
triv'd, 

A.  The  church. 

B.  A  mofque. 

C.  The  archbifhop's  lodgings  on  this  fpot, 
where  the  tower  was  built  by  the  Emprefs  Helena. 

D.  The  chapel  of  St.  Stephen. 

E.  Lodgings  for  pilgrims. 

F.  The  chapel  of  St.  Michael. 

G.  The  chapel  of  St.  Bafil,  Gregory  and  Cliry- 
foftom. 

H.  The  chape]  of  Mofes  and  Aaron  over  St. 
Nicholas. 

I.  The  lodgings  of  Jeremias,  a  depofed  patri- 
arch of  Conftantinople. 

K.  The  refectory. 
L.  The  kitchen. 

M.  The  mill,  bakehoufe,  and  ftable. 
N.  The  well  of  The  holy  bum. 
O.  The  garden  of  The  holy  bum. 


P.  The  chapel  of  St.  George. 

The  window  where  people  are  drawn  up. 

R.  The  library. 

S.  The  fuperior's  room. 

T.  The  chapel  for  the  Latins. 

V.  Rooms  for  thofe  of  the  Latin  church. 

The  chapel  of  the  Blefied  Virgin  Mary,  in 
the  archbifhop's  lodgings,  as  likewife  thofe  of  the 
Fountain,  and  of  our  Saviour,  are  on  the  fecond 
floor. 

r.  The  chapel  of  St.  John  Baptift. 

A.  The  door  to  the  garden. 

0.  The  well  of  Mofes,  where  he  met  the 
Daughters  of  Jethro. 

H.  The  chapel  of  St.  Demetrius,  Sergius,  and 
Banchus. 

n.  The  chapel  of  St.  Anthony  the  Abbot. 
2.  The  chapel  of  the  Five  martyrs. 
C».  The  chapel  of  St.  John  the  Evangelift. 
¥.  The  chapel  of  St.  iJeter  and  Paul. 

u.  Courts. 


Back  of 
Foldout 
Not  Imaged 


ON  EGYPT, 


pels ;  one  of  which  is  in  the  garden,  adjoining  to  the  dormitory  of  the 
archbifhop  and  monks,  who  are  laid  in  a  houfe  built  above  ground, 
without  being  inhumed;  and  the  archbifhops  only  have  the  honour  of 
coffins. 

They  have  two  wells  in  the  convent,  one  is  called  the  well  of  Mofes,  the 
water  of  which  is  cold,  and  ufed  in  fummer,  the  other,  the  well  of  The 
holy  bum,  which  is  not  fo  cold,  this  they  drink  in  the  winter.  All  their 
fprings  and  wells  depend  much  on  the  rain  ;  and  in  the  valleys,  between 
the  fummits  of  Mount  Horeb,  they  have  built  walls  to  keep  the  water 
from  running  off,  that  it  may  link  down  and  fupply  their  wells  ;  not- 
withstanding this  they  want  water  for  moft  of  their  gardens,  by  reafon 
that  the  rains  of  late  years  have  not  been  plentiful ;  and  many  of  their 
trees  die  on  that  account. 

The  patriarchs  of  Conflantinople  when  depofed,  have  often  been  ba- 
nifh'd  to  this  convent.  If  I  do  not  miftake,  Athanaflus  was  of  this  mo- 
naftery  j  and  I  was  inform'd  that  Sergius  was  a  monk  here,  who  was  an  ac- 
complice with  Mahomet;  and  I  fuppofe  is  the  fame  perfon  that  ailifted  him 
in  completing  the  Alcoran,  and  the  fyftem  of  the  Mahometan  religion. 

The  convent  is  exempt  from  all  jurifdidtion,  and  is  govern'd  by  a  bifhopj 
who  has  the  title  and  honours  of  an  archbifhop;  he  is  elected  from  their 
own  body,  by  the  monks  of  this  convent,  and  the  convent  at  Cairo,  and 
goes  to  Jerufalem  to  be  confecrated  by  the  patriarch.  Under  him  there  is 
a  fuperior  that  fuper-intends  under  the  archbifhop  when  he  is  prefent,  and 
governs  in  his  abfence ;  but  does  very  little  without  confulting  in  a  meet- 
ing that  is  compofed  of  feven  or  eight  either  of  the  oldeft  men,  of  greater!; 


a.  Courts. 

x.  The  court  where  the  priefts  and  deacons 
lodge. 

As  the  building  of  the  Convent  is  very  irregular, 
fo  this  is  not  given  as  an  exact  plan  of  all  the 
apartments,  but  only  to  give  ageneral  idea  of  it. 
References  to  the  church. 

a.  The  throne  formerly  ufed  by  the  archbi- 
fhop. Round  and  below  it  are  the  feats  like 
fteps,  on  which  the  priefts  ufed  to  fit  as  they  do 
at  this  time  when  the  archbifhop  performs  the 
ceremony  of  warning  their  feet ;  id  rvvfyovov. 

b.  The  fhrine  of  St.  Catharine. 

c.  The  throne  of  the  archbifhop,  in  which  he 
fits  only  on  fundays  and  feftivals,  fitting  in  the 
next  to  it  on  other  days,  i 

d.  The  feat  of  any  other  bifhop. 

e.  The  feat  of  the  archbifhop,  when  he  di- 
ftributes  the  loaves,  in  memory  of  our  Saviour's 
miracle. 

ee.  The  feat  of  the  ceconomift. 

f.  The  feat  of  his  deputy, 

g.  The  feat  of  one  of  the  firft  priefts,  when 
the  archbifhop  fits  on  the  other  fide. 

h.  Seats  of  the  fervants  of  the  ceconomift. 

i.  The  feat  of  the  porter. 

k.  The  feat  of  the  prieft  that  adminifters. 
[.  The  feat  of  the  perfon  thataflifts  when  they 
adminifter  the  facramcnt. 

m.  The  feat  where  the  archbifhop  commonly  fits, 
o.  The  feat  of  the  vicar  or  ftewaid,  o  Ijt/t^ot®' 
p.  The  feat  of  the  facriftan. 
q.  The  feats  of  the  lay  Caloyers. 
r.  The  chapel  of  The  holy  bufh. 


s.  The  chapel  of  St.  James. 

t.  The  chapel  of  The  holy  fathers. 

u.  The  chapel  of  St.  Antipas. 

v.  The  chapel  of  St.  Conftantine  and  Helena. 

w.  The  chapel  of  St.  Marina. 

Y.  The  chapel  of  St.  Anne. 

x.  The  chapel  of  St.  Simon  Stylites. 

y.  The  chapel  of  St.  Cofmas  and  Damianusi 

z.  The  defk  on  which  they  place  a  picture, 
which  they  go  and  kifs  after  they  have  taken  the 
bleifed  bread,  ii  nrfoo-xwtilw'e^ov  r  «sco'v«v. 

a.  A  defk  at  which  the  deacons  read  to  the 
priefts,  oivxhoyeiov. 

/3.  A  place  to  read  at. 

y.  The  communion  table,  tj  ayU  T£«Ve£«. 

f.  The  chancel,  ii>  «.ym  /3!J/*#. 

$.  The  place  where  they  put  the  bread  and 
wine,  >J  Hr§o3e<rjf. 

«.  The  partition  between  the  church  and  the 
chancel,  n!  ts^ttAov.  A  view  of  it  at  the  crucifix. 

tj.  The  fpot  where  they  fay  Mofes  flood  when 
he  faw  the  burning  bufh.  It  is  reprefented  at 
large  at  a. 

6.  A  curtain  they  draw  when  the  prieft  confed- 
erates, »J  S-u'g^f. 

a.  The  flails,  t»  savtii*. 
(j..  The  choir,  6  ^ogo'f. 

v.  The  place  where  they  keep  the  oil  and  other 
things  for  the  ufe  of  the  altar,  is  ns^txt&ij. 
£.  The  facrifty,  ij  o-xeuotpuAaW. 
sr.  The  portico,  o  vafa);. 
*.  The  middle  nave  of  the  churh,  is  safisAjxoV 
■f.  The  ifles,  t»  oVio9-fu  r  x°^y- 
+.  The  chapels,  «'i  fs^Khr^itti. 

judgment 


OBSERVATIONS 

judgment,  or  of  thofe  who  have  done  moft  fervice  to  the  convent,  whe- 
ther prieits  or  lay-brothers,  no  office  or  feniority  intitling  any  one  to  be  a 
member  of  it  *. 

In  Cairo  they  are  govcrn'd  by  an  Archimandrite,  which  is  the  title  of 
thofe  who  are  fet  over  the  monks  that  are  abfent  from  the  principal  con- 
vent, and  are  in  any  city ;  and  he,  in  the  abfence  of  the  archbifhop  be- 
yond the  fea,  is  the  perfon  that  governs  the  whole  affairs  of  the  convent. 
About  two  hundred  years  ago,  having  been  diffatisfied  with  their  laft  arch- 
bifhop, they  chofe  a  fuperior  under  the  title  of  Goumonos,  which  is  the 
name  they  give  to  fuperiors  of  convents,  and  they  remain'd  under  this  go- 
vernment tor  eighteen  years.  The  members  of  the  convent  are  priefls,  dea- 
cons, or  lay  brothers  ;  the  latter  are  employ 'd  in  fuperintending,  or  fer- 
ving  about  all  domeflic  affairs.  Their  manner  of  living  is  very  rigid,  and 
kept  more  ffriclly  to  than  in  any  ether  convent;  they  never  eat  flefh;  and 
in  lent,  nothing  that  is  the  produce  of  flefh,  as  cheefe  or  the  like ;  and 
they  are  permitted  to  eat  oil  and  fhell-fifh  only  on  faturdays,  fundays,  and 
feaft  days,  in  lent ;  no  Greek  being  allow'd  to  eat  any  other  fifh  during 
that  feafon:  And  any  one  may  conclude  how  coarfely  they  fare,  when  I 
hardly  faw  any  other  difhes  there  than  rice  ill  drefs'd  with  oil,  vinegar, 
and  onions,  and  fometimes  with  onions  and  dried  fifh,  the  fame  fort  of  fifh 
dreffed  in  a  foup,  dried  horfe  beans  fodden  in  water,  falad,  and  cheefe. 
They  have  two  fevere  falls,  which  as  many  as  can,  obferve;  they  eat  nothing 
from  thurfday  evening  to  faturday  in  the  afternoon,  on  eafter  eve ;  and 
from  funday  evening  to  afh-wednefday  in  the  afternoon. 

The  fervice  of  the  Greek  church  here  is  perform'd  with  much  greater 
decency  than  ever  I  faw  it  in  any  other  place,  and,  it  is  probable,  moft  a- 
greeably  to  the  antient  cuftoms  of  the  Greek  church;  for  tho'  the  convent, 
as  they  fay,  has  been  twice  rifled,  and  the  monks  obliged  to  fly,  yet  they 
fbon  return'd  again ;  fo  that  there  has  been  a  conftant  fucceflion ;  and  fome 
years  paft  they  retired  to  Tor,  not  being  able  to  fupport  the  Arabs.  They 
ought  certainly  to  perform  their  offices  well,  for  it  is  their  whole  employ- 
ment. The  offices  are  very  long,  but  they  fhorten  them  by  faying  them 
very  faft,  which  one  may  conclude  from  their  often  faying  Kyrie  Eleyfon 
forty  times  without  drawing  breath.  Their  offices  take  up  great  part  of 
their  time.  In  lent  they  rife  at  midnight,  and  perform  certain  devotions, 
celebrating  the  facrament  only  four  times  a  week,  from  nine  to  eleven, 
when  they  dine.  At  other  times  they  do  not  rife  at  midnight,  but  begin  to 
celebrate  before  day.  They  have  fervice  at  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  when 
it  is  over,  they  fup  and  go  early  to  repofe.  Juftinian  fent  them  a  hundred 
vaffals  from  the  Red  fea,  and  as  many  more  from  Egypt,  to  ferve  the  con- 
vent ;  they  were  formerly  much  increafed,  but  they  deftroy'd  one  another 
in  fome  contentions  they  had,  fo  that  about  the  convent  there  are  not  forty 
families  :  There  are  of  them  at  Tor  and  other  parts,  the  Arabs  not  defiring 
they  fhould  be  all  together,  left  they  fhould  be  too  hard  for  them  :  Thefe 
the  convent  fupplies  with  bread.  One  is  always  within  the  convent,  to  take 
care  of  the  large  mofque,  the  Mahometans  would  have  near  their  great 

*  The  fuperior  of  the  convent  they  call  Ai-  prieils  they  call  'It^vnyji.    The  deacons  Ai«- 

xar©-.    The  fuperior  they  chofe  in  the  place  of  xovoi.    The  lay  brothers  Ka^oj-t^oj,  which  accord- 

an  archbiihop  was  called  'Hya'ps*©-,  the  common  ing   to  their  pronunciation  of  5/,  is  Caloyeroi. 

title  of  thofe  who  prelide  over  convents.    The  Their  meeting  or  chapter  they  call  1,  £rfva{tft 

church, 


ON  EGYPT.  iS3 

church,  and  they  have  one  or  two  more  within  their  walls  for  fome  fervices. 
Thefe  vaflals  take  care  of  their  gardens,  and  do  other  affairs  for  them  as 
they  have  occafion. 

When  pilgrims  arrive  at  the  convent,  acaloyer  or  lay-brother  is  appointed  Pilgrim*  at, 
to  attend  on  them,  to  prepare  their  provifious  in  a  place  apart,  which  is  ' convert' 
ferved  in  their  chamber.  They  are  iliewn  all  the  chapels  and  offices  of  the 
convent,  the  library,  where  there  are  a  few  manufcripts,  but  I  faw  none 
that  were  rare.  They  have  many  Greek  books  of  the  firft  printing.  The 
pilgrims  commonly  attend  the  fervice  of  the  church  twice  a  day,  and  on 
fome  certain  days  they  dine  in  the  refectory  with  the  monks;  and  foon  af- 
ter they  arrive,  being  conducted  from  the  church  to  the  refectory,  they 
perform  the  ceremony  of  warning  the  feet,  as  they  do  at  Jerusalem.  If  the 
pilgrim  is  in  orders,  a  prieft  performs  that  ceremony ;  I  had  that  honour 
done  me  by  the  fuperior.  One  of  the  monks,  after  this  ceremony  is  over, 
holds  a  bafin  and  urn  to  wafh  the  hands,  and  then  fprinkles  the  pilgrims 
with  rofe  water ;  if  it  is  a  lay  perfon,  one  of  the  lay  monks  performs  thefe 
ceremonies,  the  whole  fociety  fitting  in  the  hall,  and  chanting  hymns. 
They  fit  at  the  table  half  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  they  rife  up  to  fay 
grace  ;  one  of  them  reads  at  a  deft  all  the  time  of  dinner,  and  a  father 
regulates  by  a  bell  the  portions  he  is  to  read.  On  the  archbifhop's  table, 
at  the  upper  end,  was  a  cover'd  plate  with  bread  in  it,  and  on  each  fide 
two  fmall  filvercups  of  water;  one  of  the  priefts  carried  the  plate  round, 
all  prefent  taking  a  piece  of  bread.  In  like  manner  the  cups  were  carried 
round,  which  are  fill'd  with  wine  when  they  have  plenty ;  every  one 
drinks  a  little  out  of  them.  After  this  they  went  and  fat  on  each  fide  of 
a  pafTage,  at  the  upper  end  of  which  is  the  archbifhop's  chair.  Here  they 
remain  fome  time  and  difcourfe ;  every  one  taking  a  plate  of  wheat  or  peafe 
out  of  baskets  that  are  placed  there,  and  picking  them  clean  ;  probably  with 
an  intention  to  infinuate,  that  even  their  diverfions  ought  to  be  attended 
with  fome  ufeful  actions.  We  went  to  the  archbifhop's  apartments,  where 
coffee  and  other  refrefhments  were  ferved,  and  the  book  of  benefactors  was 
fhewn ;  it  being  cuftomary  to  give  fomething  after  this  ceremony  is  per- 
form'd. 

On  palm-funday  they  expofed  the  relidts,  and  about  noon  I  fet  out  with  Afcent  to 
a  Caloyer  to  go  up  the  mountain.  Being  let  down  by  the  window,  we  MountSim!- 
afcended  up  to  the  plain  of  St.  Elias,  that  divides  the  fummits  of  the 
two  mountains.  We  vifited  all  the  parts  of  Horeb,  and  went  up  to  the 
top  of  Mount  Sinai,  and  came  down  again  to  the  plain  of  St.  Elias,  and 
lay  there  in  the  chapel  of  that  faint.  The  next  day  we  went  along  the 
valley,  between  the  two  hills,  to  the  weft,  and  defcended  the  fteep  hill  to 
the  convent  of  The  martyrs.  We  after  begun  to  afcend  the  mountain  of 
St.  Catharine,  which  was  a  fatigue  that  lafted  four  hours.  From  the  top 
1  had  a  fine  view  all  round,  and  defcended  to  the  convent  of  The  martyrs, 
where  we  repofed  that  night,  after  a  day  of  great  labour.  The  next  day 
we  went  along  the  valley  of  Rephidim,  and  came  to  the  convent  of  the 
Apoftles,  in  the  valley  of  Melgah,  and  from  it  went  over  the  hill  to  the 
weft.  We  came  to  the  convent  of  St.  Cofmas  and  Damianus  in  a  valley, 
where  we  faw  all  the  remains  of  convents  and  hermitages.  The  next  morn- 
ing we  return'd  into  the  plain,  and  faw  feveral  things  in  the  way  to  the 
convent ;  and  I  went  to  Jebel  Moufeh,  to  the  fouth  eaft  of  it,  which  is  of 

Vol.  I.  R  r  grey 


j54  OBSERVATIONS 

grey  granite ;  and  was  drawn  up  again  into  the  convent.  Cn  good-fri- 
day  the  relicts  were  again  expofed.  The  next  day  I  rofe  after  midnight  to 
fee  the  ceremonies  of  the  church,  and  fet  out  again  to  go  a  fecond  time  up 
Mount  Sinai,  which  at  firft  they  made  fome  difficulties  of,  being  contrary 
to  their  ufual  cuftoms;  but  I  had  a  defire  to  go  up  another  way,  by  which 
they  fay  Mofes  ufed  to  afcend  the  mountain  ;  it  is  call'd  Derb  Seritch  j  fo 
I  went  to  the  top  of  Mount  Sinai  a  fecond  time. 

On  eafter-funday  I  rofe  foon  after  midnight  to  fee  their  ceremonies.  All 
being  over  about  day-break,  we  went  to  the  archbifhop's  apartments, 
where  they  broke  their  fevere  faft,  by  eating  eggs  boil'd  hard,  and  cheefe ; 
and  coffee  was  ferved  round.  The  monks  feem'd  extremely  pleafed  that 
their  lent  was  over,  were  very  chearful,  fung  hymns  in  their  chambers,  and 
went  to  repofe.  We  all  dined  together  in  the  refedlory  about  ten  in  the 
morning  ;  and  coffee  being  ferved  in  the  paffage,  I  was  invited  to  the  fu- 
perior's  room,  and  from  thence  we  all  went  to  pafs  fome  time  in  the  gar- 
den. They  had  ask'd  me  if  I  would  perform  our  fcrvice  on  eafter-day 
in  a  chapel  that  is  allotted  for  that  purpofe ;  there  being  one  for  the  Ro- 
man Catholicks,  and,  if  I  miftake  not,  another  for  all  other  profeffions. 
Natural  hi-  As  to  the  natural  hiftory  of  this  country,  there  is  little  to  be  added  to 
t^"'  Ara"  what  I  have  already  remarked.  I  faw  few  trees,  except  the  Acacia,  which 
the  Arabs  here  call  Cyale,  and  I  believe  is  the  fame  that  is  call'd  Sount  in 
Egypt  ;  it  is  certain  that  they  colleft  the  gum  Acacia  from  it.  Some 
parts  of  the  defert  abound  in  fmall  fhrubs.  There  are  very  few  birds  in 
this  country,  where  there  is  fo  little  food  for  them.  I  obferved  fome  flocks 
of  large  ftorks  with  black  wings,  which  were  probably  changing  their  cli- 
mate and  going  to  the  north  againft  the  fummer.  Of  wild  beafts,  they 
have  only  a  few  tygers,  or  leopards,  being  a  fmall  fpotted  fort  they  call 
Gatto-Pardali,  fome  antelopes,  hares,  wolves,  and  Ahenas. 


CHAP.  IV. 

Of  the  journey  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

TO  the  account  of  Mount  Sinai,  and  that  part  of  Arabia,  I  fhall  add 
fomething  concerning  the  journey  of  the  children  of  Ifrael  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt. 
There  are  four  roads  from  Cairo  to  the  north  part  of  the  Red  fea  ;  one 
call'd  Derb  Ejenef  is  the  fartheft  to  the  north,  and  continues  a  confidera- 
ble  way  along  the  plain  to  the  north,  or  north  north  eaft,  then  afcending 
between  fmall  hills,  it  pafles  by  the  mountains  call'd  Hauhebi,  and  defcends, 
as  I  was  inform'd,  from  the  north  to  Adjeroute,  which  is  to  the  north 
north  weft  of  the  Red  fea ;  tho'  I  have  fome  reafon  to  doubt,  if  it  does 
not  come  into  the  common  road  to  the  weft  of  Adjeroute,  in  the  narrow 
pafs  about  Hamatibihara,  where  I  was  fhewn  a  road  coming  in  eaft  of  the 
road  of  the  Hadjees  or  pilgrims.  The  fecond  road,  call'd  Derb  Had  jar, 
afcends  up  the  hills  to  the  fouth  from  thofe  burial  places  near  Cairo,  call'd 
Keid  Bey;  goes  on  eaft  of  thefe  as  on  a  fort  of  a  plain,  having  in  many 
parts  little  hills  on  each  fide,  and  a  range  of  hills  at  fome  diftance  to  the 

fouth. 


ON  EGYPT. 

fouth,  and  at  length  going  in  between  the  hills,  a  little  beyond  a  valley, 
call'd  Tearo  Said,  paffes  a  very  narrow  defilee,  call'd  Haraminteleh,  and 
then  coming  into  a  fort  of  open  plain,  having  Mount  Attakah  on  the  fouth, 
it  leads  to  Adjeroute.  At  Tearo  Said,  a  third  road  Derb-el-Hadjee  (the  way 
of  the  pilgrims)  comes  into  the  laft,  having  gone  north  to  the  Birke  or 
lake,  eight  miles  from  Cairo ;  from  which  place  it  afcends  the  low  hills 
to  the  eaft,  and  continues  on  them.  The  moft  fouthern  road  is  Derb 
Toueric,  being  fouth  of  thofe  hills  on  which  are  the  two  laft  roads,  and 
as  I  fuppofe,  paffes  between  the  two  ridges  of  mountains,  Attakah,  and 
Gewoubee,  which  are  the  two  hills  on  the  weft  of  the  Red  fea,  next  to 
Suez,  and  paffes  over  the  fouth  part  of  Mount  Attakah,  and  fo  by  the  fea 
fhoar  leads  to  Suez,  or  directly  to  Adjeroute.  It  is  moft  probable  that  the 
Ifraelites  went  by  the  firft  road  Derb  Ejenef,  becaufe  it  comes  out  from 
the  mountains  neareft  to  the  wildernefs  of  Etham  or  Shur,  which  appear 
to  be  the  fame  from  Exodus  xv.  n.  and  Numbers  xxxiii.  8.  The  firft- 
born  were  flain  the  night  of  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  Abib,  that  is,  the 
night  before  the  day  of  the  fourteenth,  and  they  were  thruft  out  the  morn- 
ing of  the  fourteenth  ;  and  the  people  of  Ifrael  being  probably  gather'd 
together  to  go  away  (according  to  Pharaoh's  promife)  on  the  eaft  of  the 
Nile,  oppofite  to  Memphis,  that  day  they  might  go  north,  leaving  the  land 
of  Ramefes ;  for  I  rather  fuppofe  it  to  be  a  country  than  any  particular 
town ;  and  it  feems  to  be  the  country  about  Heliopolis,  now  call'd  Matarea. 
And  they  came  to  Succoth,  which  might  be  about  a  village  call'd  Chanke, 
about  five  hours  or  ten  miles  north  of  Cairo,  and  near  this  place  there  is 
water  of  the  canal,  with  which  they  might  provide  themfelves.  We  may 
fuppofe  they  fet  out  the  night  after  the  fifteenth  ;  they  then  encamped  in 
Etham,  in  the  edge  of  the  wildernefs,  that  is  in  the  edge  of  the  wilder- 
nefs of  Etham  ;  or  it  might  be  at  a  winter  torrent  call'd  Etham,  which 
might  give  name  to  the,  wildernefs,  and  be  at  the  edge  of  it.  This  muft 
have  been  about  the  north  of  the  Red  fea,  and  probably  inclining  to  the 
north  eaft  of  it.  They  were  order'd  to  remove  from  Etham,  and  to  turn 
again  unto  Pihahiroth,  oppofite  to  Baalzephon,  Exodus  xiv.  1.  before  it,  be- 
fore Migdol,  Numbers  xxxiii.  7.  between  Migdol  and  the  fea,  before  Baal- 
zephon by  the  fea,  Exodus  xiv.  2.  and  the  Egyptians  overtook  them  en- 
camping by  the  fea,  befide  Pihahiroth,  Exodus  xiv.  9.  They  turn'd  again 
to  Pihahiroth,  a  place  they  had  been  at  before,  probably  the  old  Cleopa- 
tris,  fomething  nearer  the  defcent  from  the  mountains.  Befide,  or  on  the 
fide  of  this  place  they  were  encamping,  it  may  be  a  little  to  the  fouth  fouth 
weft,  over-againft  Baalzephon,  which  might  be  Arfinoe,  and  be  fo  call'd 
from  fome  extraordinary  worlhip  in  it  of  the  fun  or  Baal.  They  were  in- 
camping  by  the  fea,  probably  to  the  weft  of  it,  before  Migdol,  and  between 
it  and  the  fea.  Migdol  might  be  the  antient  Heroopolis,  which  I  fuppofe 
to  have  been  where  Adjeroute  is;  fo  that  the  Egyptians  coming  down  the 
hill,  in  the  road  call'd  Derb  Ejenef,  and  feeing  that  they  could  fhut  up  any 
retreat  both  to  the  north  and  weft,  Pharaoh  might  well  fay  of  them  "  They 
"  are  entangled  in  the  land,  and  the  wildernefs  hath  fhut  them  in.''  We 
may  fuppofe  that  the  Ifraelites  marched  moft  part  of  the  night  ;  for  it  is 
faid  the  Egyptians  came  not  near  the  Ifraelites  all  the  night ;  and  that  the 
Lord  caufed  the  fea  to  go  back  by  a  ftrong  eaft  wind  all  that  night ;  and 
probably  towards  the  morning  the  waters  were  divided,  and  the  children 

of 


OBSERVATIONS 

of  Ifrael  went  into  the  midft  of  the  fea  ;  and  in  the  morning  watch,  the 
Lord  troubled  the  hoft  of  the  Egyptians ;  and  Mofes  ftretching  out  his  hand, 
the  waters  came  again  and  overwhelmed  the  Egyptians.  It  is  probable 
that  the  Ifraelites  went  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  Red  fea,  till  they  came  to 
the  afcent  over  the  fouth  part  of  Mount  Attakah,  in  Derb  Touerik  ;  for 
fuch  a  great  number  of  people  to  pafs  fuch  a  road  would  take  up  much 
time  ;  fo  here  it  is  probable  the  waters  were  divided,  and  that  they  paffed 
over  to  a  point  near  the  fprings  of  Mofes,  which  makes  out  a  great  way 
into  the  fea,  within  which  the  fhips  now  lie  at  anchor.  And  the  tradition, 
in  the  country  is,  that  the  Ifraelites  paffed  over  where  the  fhips  anchor. 
The  Red  fea  lies  here  pretty  near  north  eaft,  and  fouth  weft;  and  the 
Lord  fent  a  ftrong  eaft  wind  all  that  night,  by  which  he  caufed  the  fea  to 
go  back  ;  but  then  he  alfo  divided  the  waters,  and  made  the  fea  dry  land. 
The  waters  might  be  faid  to  be  on  their  right,  if  the  fea  had  retired  by 
the  natural  caufes  of  wind  and  tide ;  tho'  it  could  not  well  be  faid  to  be 
a  wall  to  them  on  the  right,  as  it  could  by  no  means  be  faid  to  be  a  wall 
to  them  on  the  left,  if  all  the  water  was  retired  to  the  fouth  weft  or  to 
the  right  ;  but  the  waters  flood  on  a  heap,  and  were  a  wall  to  them  on 
their  right  hand  and  on  their  left.  Thelfraelites  landing  here,  might  drink 
of  the  waters  of  Ein  Moufeh  (the  fprings  of  Mofes)  which  might  from  this 
have  the  name  continued  among  the  Jews  by  tradition,  who  might  after 
vifit  thefe  places,  and  fo  it  might  become  the  common  name  when  Chriftianity 
was  eftablifh'd.  They  then  went  three  days  journey  into  the  wildernefs  of 
Etham,  or  Shur.  The  wildernefs  of  Shur  might  be  the  fouth  part  of  the 
wildernefs  of  Etham;  for  about  fix  hours  from  the  fpring  of  Mofes,  is  a 
winter  torrent  call'd  Sedur,  and  there  is  a  hill  to  the  eaft  higher  than  the 
reft,  call'd  Kala  Sedur  (the  fortrefs  of  Sedur)  from  which  this  wildernefs 
might  have  its  name.  In  thefe  three  days  they  found  no  water ;  but  meet- 
ing with  a  fpring  of  bitter  waters,  Mofes  being  order'd  to  throw  a  tree  into 
them,  they  were  made  fweet,  and  the  place  was  call'd  Marah.  About 
four  hours  north  of  Corondel,  and  about  fixteen  fouth  of  the  fpring  of 
Mofes,  is  a  part  of  the  mountain  to  the  weft  call'd  Le  Marah,  and  towards 
the  fea  is  a  fait  well  call'd  Birhammer,  fo  that  this  is  probably  the  place  ; 
five  or  fix  hours  a  day  being  a  fufEcient  march  with  women  and  children, 
when  they  faw  their  enemies  drown'd,  and  were  in  no  fear,  and  in  fearch 
of  water,  which  they  could  not  find.  They  removed  from  Marah,  and 
came  unto  Elim,  and  in  Elim  were  twelve  fountains  of  water,  and  three- 
fcore  and  ten  palm-trees.  About  four  hours  fouth  of  Lc  Marah  is  the  win- 
ter torrent  of  Corondel,  in  a  very  narrow  valley,  full  of  tamarisk-trees, 
fome  palm-trees,  and  there  is  tolerable  water  about  half  a  mile  weft  of 
the  road.  Beyond  this  about  half  an  hour,  is  the  winter  torrent  call'd  Dieh- 
Salmeh,  and  an  hour  or  two  further  is  the  valley  or  torrent  of  Wouffet, 
where  there  are  feveral  fprings  of  water  that  are  a  little  fait.  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  one  of  them,  but  rather  Corondel,  is  Elim,  becaufe  it  is  faid 
afterwards  they  removed  from  Elim,  and  encamped  at  the  Red  fea;  and  the 
way  from  Corondel  to  go  to  the  valley  of  Baharum  is  part  of  it  near  the  fea, 
where  I  was  inform'd  there  was  good  water,  and  fo  probably  the  Ifraelites 
encamp'd  there.  If  the  Ifraelites  had  encamp'd  at  Tor,  which  many  would 
have  to  be  Elim,  near  the  well  of  frefh  water,  which  is  no  more  than 
half  a  league  from  the  fea,  and  almoft  within  the  view  of  it,  it  would 

hardly 


ON  EGYPT. 


hardly  have  been  faid  that  they  went  afterwards  and  encamp'd  at  the  Red 
fea ;  and  the  fait  waters  there,  call'd  The  fprings  and  baths  of  Mofes,  are 
not  a  mile  from  the  fea.  Suppofing  then  Corondel  to  be  Elim,  it  is  pro- 
bable they  went  'this  way  by  the  fea  into  a  long  valley,  (which  may  be 
the  defert  of  Sin)  that  extends  away  to  Tor,  and  to  the  fouth  to  the  fea, 
being  about  two  or  three  leagues  wide  in  fome  parts,  and  is  between  two 
ranges  of  hills,  one  to  the  eaft,  the  other  to  the  weft,  towards  the  fea ; 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  children  of  Ilrael  fhould  encamp  about 
Tor,  where  there  is  good  water ;  and  this  might  give  occafion  for  the  name 
of  thofe  fprings.  'Twas  in  the  wildernefs  of  Sin  that  God  gave  them 
Manna.  From  Tor  one  goes  eaft  to  the  valley  of  Hebran,  which  is  a  win- 
ter torrent  between  high  hills.  There  are  feveral  fprings  in  it  of  excellent 
water,  and  I  faw  there  two  wells.  This  probably  is  Dophkah,  where  the 
Ifraelites  encamp'd  when  they  took  their  journey  out  of  the  wildernefs  of 
Sin,  Numbers  xxxiii.  12.  From  this  valley  the  road  is  over  the  mountains 
to  the  eaft,  into  the  pleafant  valley  of  Bouerah,  about  half  a  mile  broad, 
between  high  hills.  There  was  water  near  it,  but  having  fail'd,  the  Arabs 
have  left  thofe  parts.  This  probably  is  Alufh,  where  they  encamped  when 
they  departed  from  Dophkah,  Numbers  xxxiii.  13.  From  this  place  the 
road  is  over  a  height  between  the  mountains,  and  leads  into  the  valley  of 
Rahah,  part  of  .the  fuppofed  defert  of  Sinai.  From  the  defert  of  Sinai, 
they  went  into  the  defert  of  Zin,  which  feems  to  be  a  general  appellation 
for  a  great  extent  of  defert  and  hills ;  and  Kadefh  and  Paran  are  ufed  pro- 
mifcuoufly  for  the  fame  defert,  Numbers  x.  12.  Numbers  xx.  r.  Numbers 
xxxiii.  3  6.  but  notwithstanding  it  is  probable  that  different  parts  of  it  were 
call'd  more  efpecially  by  thefe  names.  Paran  feems  to  have  been  to  the 
fouth,  about  the  hill  they  now  call  Pharan,  and  a  winter  torrent  of  the 
fame  name,  which  are  to  the  fouth  weft.  To  this  part  the  Ifraelites  went, 
when  they  came  to  the  defert  of  Sinai ;  and  when  they  return'd  fromEzion- 
geber  into  the  defert  of  Zin,  we  find  them  at  Kadefh,  which  feems  to  have 
been  a  particular  part  of  the  defert  of  Paran  to  the  eaft,  Numbers  xiii.  26. 
where  Mofes  ftruck  a  rock  a  fecond  time,  and  the  water  flow'd  out.  This  is 
fuppofed  to  be  eight  hours  north  or  north  north  weft  of  Mount  Sinai  ;  and 
to  this  part  the  fpies  return'd  from  viewing  the  promifed  land.  It  is  pro- 
bable Tebel  Te  is  Mount  Hor,  which  extends  near  to  Elana,  fuppofed  to  be 
Ailath  ;  to  the  fouth  eaft  of  which  Ezion-geber  feems  to  have  been,  the 
plains  of  that  place  being  mention  d  after  thofe  of  Ailath,  when  the  chil- 
dren of  Ifrael  journey 'd  towards  the  promifed  land  ;  and  when  theyturn'd 
back  again,  it  is  faid  that  they  came  into  the  wildernefs  of  Zin,  which  is 
Kadefh  ;  as  probably  all  the  defert  had  that  name  to  the  weft  of  the  eaftern 
gulf  of  the  Red  fea.  It  is  then  faid  they  removed  from  Kadefh,  and 
pitch'd  in  Mount  Hor.  This  feems  to  be  in  their  return  again  towards  the 
promifed  landf;  fo  that  Mount  Hor  muft  have  been  near  Kadefh,  and 
near  Ezion-geber.  Mount  Seir  alfo  is  mention'd,  and  their  encompafling 
that  mountain,  that  is  going  to  the  weft,  fouth,  and  eaft  of  it ;  and  I  think 
it  may  be  doubted  whether  this  was  a  general  denomination  for  feveral 
mountains,  or  one  ridge  of  mountains  ;  and  if  the  latter,  whether  it  might 
not  be  the  fame  as  Mount  Hor,  fo  call'd  from  the  Horims,  who  were 
the  firft  inhabitants  of  it,  and  were  fucceeded  by  the  children  of  Efau  g, 


f  Deuteronom.  ii.  8. 

Vol.  I. 


s  Deuteronom.  ii.  12. 

S  s 


who 


IS8  OBSERVATIONS 

who  coming  there,  it  might  have  from  him  the  name  of  Seir,  which  fig- 
nifies  Hairy;  and  fo  be  call'd  fometimes  Hor,  and  at  other  times  Seir. 


C  H  A  P.  V. 

From  Mount  Sinai  to  Suez,  Grand  Cairo,  Ro- 
se tto,  and  Alexandria. 

N  Eafter  funday  in  the  evening,  I  was  defired  to  meet  the  fathers 
\_J  in  the  great  church  of  the  convent  of  Mount  Sinai,  where  they  be- 
gun a  form  of  chanting  and  praying  for  our  fafe  journey  to  Cairo, 
repeating  the  fame  ceremony  all  round  the  fix  and  twenty  chapels  in  the 
convent.  The  fuperior  invited  me  to  fup  at  his  chamber,  and  prefented 
me  with  views  of  the  convent;  this  being  a  certain  form  they  go  through 
with  all  pilgrims,  the  fuperior  fupplying  the  place  of  the  archbifhop.  I 
made  him,  as  ufual,  a  prefent  in  money,  and  to  the  priefts,  deacons,  offi- 
cers, and  to  all  the  convent,  a  fmall  fum,  vifiting  many  of  them ;  and  fe- 
veral  came  to  fee  me,  and  brought  me  prefents  of  natural  curiofities  of 
the  Red  fea,  and  of  the  country  about,  as  they  obferved  I  made  collections 
Departure  jn  t}lat  way_  The  next  day,  the  twenty-third  of  April,  after  having  been 
enc.  at  the  church  and  the  chapel  of  The  holy  bufh,  the  fuperior  and  many  of 
the  convent  went  with  me  to  the  window,  where  I  took  leave  of  them, 
was  let  down,  and  began  my  journey  towardsCairo.  We  went  only  two  hours 
,  that  day,  the  Arabs  not  having  every  thing  ready  for  their  camels.  On 
the  twenty-fourth  we  went  in  the  fame  way  we  came.  We  foon  de- 
fended the  valley  where  they  fay  the  convent  was  firft  defign'd;  and  turn- 
ing to  the  weft  in  the  other  valley  we  came  in,  after  travelling  about  a 
mile,  we  turn'd  out  of  that  road  to  the  north,  afcending  the  fandy  val- 
lies  between  very  low  hills,  call'd  Jebel  Lefany.  I  faw  the  houfes  the  Arabs 
had  built  for  their  corn,  but  they  had  left  the  place  for  want  of  water.  We 
came  into  a  large  plain  call'd  Waad  Aie,  from  whence  the  road  goes  to 
the  convent  of  Paran.  They  told  me  that  the  part  of  the  defert  towards 
the  convent  was  very  much  infefted  with  a  large  yellow  hornet,  call'd 
Dembeh,  that  ftings  the  beafts  as  well  as  men,  and  caufes  a  very  trouble- 
fome  fwelling  for  five  or  fix  days,  if  they  do  not  apply  a  white  earth  and 
vinegar.  PolFibly  the  village  of  Pharan,  mention'd  by  Ptolemy,  might  be 
in  this  place.  Near  it  is  the  fmall  high  hill  of  Pharan,  or  Paran,  which  is 
fo  often  mention'd  in  the  old  teftament,  that  we  may  conclude  the  chil- 
dren of  Ifrael  encamp'd  there  for  a  confiderable  time  ;  fo  that  in  this  great 
promontory  between  the  two  gulfs,  Sarracene  feems  to  have  been  to  the 
weft  and  north,  the  Pharamita?  to  the  eaft  and  fouth,  and  polfibly  Muni- 
chiatis  h  might  be  in  the  middle  between  them.  Purfuing  our  journey,  we 
paffed  by  a  hill  call'd  Laifh ;  and  in  the  evening  a  prieft  of  the  convent 
going  to  Cairo  overtook  us.  On  the  twenty- fifth  we  paffed  through  the 
valley  of  Bareach,  where  I  faw  two  or  three  infcriptions,  and  there  was 
rain  water  preferved  in  cifterns.  Near  this  place,  we  came  into  the  road 
we  left  going  to  Tor ;  four  or  five  Arabs  join'd  company  with  us,  and 

»  See  z. 

we 


3 


ON    EGYPT.  159 

we  were  molefted  by  one  who  pretended  to  demand  a  fine  becaufe  three 
perfons,  as  he  thought,  came  together  from  the  convent ;  for  the  Arabs 
have  a  law  that  if  three  camels  depart  at  the  fame  time,  the  convent  fhall 
be  obliged  to  pay  thirty  piafters ;  which  I  fuppofe  is  defign'd  to  prevent  any 
one  Arab  with  feveral  camels,  monopolizing  the  whole  bufinefs  of  convey- 
ing the  monks.    This  day  we  had  a  hamfeen  wind,  but  it  was  not  very 
hot,  as  it  did  not  come  from  the  fouth  weft.    On  the  twenty-fixth  we 
came  to  Jebel  Te,  which  as  I  obferved,  may  be  Mount  Hor,  where  Aaron 
died.    Palling  along  the  valley  to  the  weftward,  which  is  to  the  fouth  of 
Mount  Te,  I  faw  a  few  letters  cut  on  a  ftone,  and  the  figures  of  two  per- 
fons on  horfeback  ;  and  I  had  feen  fuch  a  one  alfo  in  the  valley  of  Hebran. 
On  the  twenty-feventh  we  came  to  Corondel,  where  having  unloaded  the 
camels,  I  went  on  one  of  them,  with  two  Arabs,  to  Pharaoh's  baths  (Ha- 
mam  Pharaone)  of  which  I  have  given  an  account,  and  return'd  again  to 
the  caravan  before  night.    On  the  twenty-ninth  in  the  morning  there  was 
a  very  thick  fog,  which  I  had  rarely  feen  in  thefe  countries ;  and  palling 
„  by  the  fountains  of  Mofes  in  the  morning,  found  the  waters  warm.  We 
arrived  at  the  ferry  of  Suez,  and  as  it  was  very  hot,  I  pitch'd  my  tent,  and  Return  to 
the  Sheik  of  Naba  and  feveral  Arabs  came  under  the  fhelter  of  it,  and  took  Sucz" 
the  refrefhments  of  coffee  and  tobacco.    A  Tartar  of  the  Pafha's,  who 
was  there  about  the  affairs  of  the  cuftom-houfe,  and  was  acquainted  with 
my  interpreter,  came  over  with  a  boat  to  meet  us,  and  carried  us  to  the 
other  fide.    I  was  under  a  neceflity  of  flaying  in  Suez  fome  days,  to  wait 
for  a  caravan ;  and  found  the  vermin  fo  troublefome,  that  I  was  obliged 
to  lie  on  the  top  of  the  houfe,  on  the  terrace,  tho'  the  dews  fell  very  plen- 
tifully ;  but  this  was  not  all,  for  I  was  forced  to  leave  my  room  early  in  the 
afternoon,  and  fit  on  the  terrace,  to  avoid  being  annoy 'd ;  for  though  the 
buggs  ufually  come  out  only  by  night,  yet  I  obferved  here  that  they  begun 
their  walks  by  day.  Being  left  at  Suez  to  take  care  of  myfelf,  the  Caimacam 
took  me  under  his  protection,  for  I  had  occafion  to  apply  to  him  ;  and  the 
caravan  being  to  depart,  I  join'd  company  with  him,  he  having  been  fo 
obliging  as  to  procure  me  camels,  and  to  defire  me  to  fend  my  things  to 
•  his  houfe;  all  which  favours  I  ftood  in  much  need  of.     On  the  eighth  of 
May,  in  the  evening,  we  lay  with  the  caravan  without  the  town,  and  on 
the  ninth  we  fet  out  an  hour  before  fun-rife.    At  the  firft  entrance  into 
the  pilgrims  road  (Derb-el-Hadjee)  to  the  right  of  the  narrow  way  be- 
tween the  low  hills,  I  faw  a  fort  of  a  foffee'towards  the  eaft  fouth  eaft  ; 
which  poffibly  may  be  the  remains  of  the  canal  that  went  to  the  Red  fea. 
We  lay  by  four  hours,  about  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  afterwards  paffed 
by  Der-el-Hammer,  where  there  is  a  tree  cover'd  all  over  with  rags,  which 
the  pilgrims  of  Mecca  throw  on  it  out  of  fome  fuperftition:  This  is  the 
place  where  the  caravan  for  Mecca  flops  the  firft  night,  after  they  leave  the 
encampment  at  the  lake.    We  did  not  flop  till  two  in  the  morning  on  the 
tenth,  and  went  on  again  about  fun  rife ;  two  hours  before  we  came  to 
the  lake  of  The  pilgrims,  we  paffed  by  Bir-el-Hammer,  where  they  were 
finking  a  well,  the  old  one  having  been  fill'd  up.    The  caravan  from 
Mecca  had  lately  paffed  by  in  their  return  to  Cairo,  and  we  faw  fome  dead 
bodies  lie  ftripp'd  in  the  road  ;  thefe  were  people  that  being  fick  and 
fatigued,  and  flaying  behind,  died  in  the  road  ;  and  thofe  who  might 
pafs  afterwards,  had  the  avarice  to  flrip  them,  but  not  the  charity  to  put 

them 


i6o  OBSERVATIONS 

them  into  the  ground.    About  noon  we  arrived  at  the  lake  from  which 
the  Mecca  caravan  fets  out.     I  left  my  interpreter  with  my  baggage,  and 
procuring  an  afs,  went  to  Cairo  with  the  Caimacam  and  his  father.  As 
we  pafted  by  Sibillallam,  the  little  children  brought  us  cups  of  water  to 
drink,  in  order  to  get  fome  charity. 
Arrival  at        I  arrived  at  Cairo,  moft  exceffively  fatigued  and  out  of  order  by  the 
Cairo.       length  of  the  journey,  and  the  great  quantity  of  water  I  drank  to  quench 
my  thirft,  it  being  very  hot.    I  ftay'd  about  three  weeks  at  Cairo  to  refrefh 
myfelf,  and  as  foon  as  I  was  a  little  recover'd,  I  took  leave  of  my  friends, 
from  whom  1  had  received  very  great  civilities  during  my  long  ftay  in 
Egypt;  having  been  in  thefe  countries,  from  the  time  1  firft  landed  to  the 
time  I  departed,  every  month  in  the  year  except  Auguft. 
Departure       On  the  fourth  of  June  in  the  evening,  many  of  my  friends  being  fo  kind 
fromCairo.  as  to  accompany  me  to  the  boat,  I  departed  for  Rofetto.    When  we  came 
into  the  Rofetto  branch  our  boat  was  often  aground  ;  the  Nile  being  now 
at  loweft,  and  they  expeded  every  day  to  fee  it  begin  to  rife.    I  obferved 
nothing  particular  in  this  voyage,  only  two  canals,  of  the  courfe  of  which 
I  got  the  beft  information  I  could.     The  firft  is  call'd  Towrat  Nadir, 
which  paffes  through  the  country  call'd  Habib  to  the  north,  and  Menoufieh 
to  the  fouth,  the  city  of  Menouf  being  on  the  north  fide  of  this  canal. 
The  other  canal  is  El-Foraftac,  which  they  told  me  crofted  the  Delta, 
north  of  Mahalla,  and  runs  into  the  Damiata  branch,  which  muft  be  un- 
derftood  by  the  communication  it  has  with  other  canals,  as  may  be  feen 
in  the  map.    I  was  inform'd  that  about  Fafara  they  have  a  lake  where  they 
Arrival  at     gather  much  fait.    We  arrived  at  Rofetto  early  on  the  ninth,  and  I  went 
oeI°'     to  the  vice-conful's  houfe,  where  I  ftaid  till  the  twenty-fecond,  to  have  an 
account  that  the  houfes  were  open'd  at  Alexandria,  after  it  was  free  from 
the  plague.  I  fet  out  in  the  evening  in  a  chaife,  and  came  to  the  Madea,  or 
ferry.    We  repofed  a  while  at  the  cane,  and  about  midnight  crofted  the 
ferry,  over  the  mouth  of  the  old  Canopic  branch.     I  was  inform'd  that 
the  water  here  is  frefh  at  the  time  of  the  high  Nile,  when  doubtlefs  it  over- 
flows the  canals  that  are  choak'd  up  ;  this  lake  not  having  any  communi- 
cation with  the  canal  of  Alexandria :  I  came  to  that  city,  and  review'd  al- 
moft  every  thing  I  had  feen  before,  and  on  the  third  of  July  embark'd  on 
board  an  Englifh  fhip  for  the  ifle  of  Candia,  the  antient  Crete. 


A    D  E  S  C  R  I- 


ON  EGYPT. 


A 

DESCRIPTION 

O  F 

The  EAST,  &c. 


BOOK  IV. 

Of  the  Government,  Cuftoms,  and  Natural 
hiftory  of  Egypt. 


chap.  I. 

Of  the  Government  of  Egypt. 

EGYPT  is  divided  into  three  parts;  upper,  lower,  and  middle  Egypt.  Divifion  of 
Thefe  are  again  fubdivided  into  provinces,  govern'd  either  by  San-  Egi,pl:' 
giaks,  call'd  alfo  Beys,  or  by  Cafhifs.    Thofe  that  are  under  the 
former  are  call'd  Sangialics  ,•  but  where  any  are  dependant  on  a  Sangiak, 
and  are  govern'd  by  a  Cafhif,  one  that  is  not  a  Bey,  they  are  call'd  Ca- 
fhiflics. 

A  Sangiak  is  a  governor,  under  whofe  ftandard  or  fangiak  all  the  mili- 
tary men  of  the  province  were  obliged  to  rank  themfelves,  whenever  they 
were  pleafed  to  fummon  them. 

The  prefent  divifion  of  the  country,  according  as  'tis  confider'd  in  the 
divan,  is  the  antient  divifion,  being  formerly  divided  into  Delta  below, 
the  Thebaid  above,  and  Heptanomis  in  the  middle  part,  fo  call'd  from 
confining  of  feven  provinces.  But  travellers  commonly  divide  it  into  i'.pper 
and  lower  Egypt.  Lower  Egypt  is  all  the  country  fouth  of  Cairo,  in  which 
there  are  fix  Sangialics  or  Cafhiflics ;  two  of  them  in  Delta  are  Garbieh 
to  the  north  weft,  and  Menoufieh  to  the  fouth  and  fouth  eaft.  On  the 
weft  is  Baheira,  under  which  is  the  Cafhiflic  of  Terrane.  To  the  eaft  are 
Baalbeis,  and  Manfoura,  which  I  think  is  call'd  Dequahalie,  and  I  have 
fince  been  inform'd  Kalioub  is  a  fixth. 


Vol.  I. 


In 


16a  OBSERVATIONS 

Middle  part  jn  middle  Egypt  on  the  eaft  is  only  Atfieh.  On  the  weft  are  Gize, 
Faiume,  Benefuief,  Minio,  and  as  it  is  faid,  Archemounain  and  Manfa- 
louth,  tliongh  I  apprehend  the  latter  is  under  the  Bey  of  Girge;  and  if 
fo,  muft  be  reckon'd  a  part  of  upper  Egypt,  and  the  other  belongs  to 
Mecca,  and  fo  is  in  a  manner  a  diftindt  fort  of  principality  from  the  other 
governments.  The  firft  I  mention'd,  Gize,  always  belongs  to  the  Tefter- 
dar,  or  lord  high  treafurer  of  Egypt. 

Upper  E-  jn  upper  Egypt  there  were  formerly  twenty-four  provinces,  but  many 
of  them  are  now  fwallow'd  up  by  Arab  Sheiks,  fo  that  on  the  weft  fide 
I  could  hear  of  none  but  Girge,  Efne,  and  Manfalouth,  though  Abou- 
tig,  Tome,  Hou,  and  alfo  Bardis,  Furfhout,  and  Badjoura,  have  been 
mentioned  as  fuch ;  which  latter,  and  I  fuppofe  moft  of  the  others  have 
of  late  years  come  under  the  government  of  Arab  Sheiks.  On  the  eaft 
fide  is  Sciout,  and  I  think  Ibrim  to  the  eaft  and  weft.  Eloua  alio  is  a 
Cafhiflic,  which  is  the  moft  fouthern  Oafis,  where  I  have  heard,  they 
have  fome  particular  laws  and  cuftoms  ;  one  efpecially,  that  a  ftranger 
cannot  ftay  there  above  three  days.  Akmim,  Kenna,  Cous,  and  Luxe- 
rein,  have  been  alfo  reckon'd  as  Cafhiflics,  which  now  feem  to  be  loft 

Arab  go-     under  the  Arab  government;  the  greater  part  of  that  country  being  under 

vcrnment.  tjje£  £ve  Arabian  Sheiks:  On  the  weft  the  Sheik  of  Aboutig,  who  alfo 
has  part  of  his  territory  on  the  eaft;  the  Sheik  of  Bardis,  near  Girge, 
who  has  a  very  fmall  territory  there,  and  a  larger  about  Cous  and  Luxe- 
rein  ;  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout,  whofe  territory  extends  on  the  weft,  near 
as  far  as  the  cataracts,  and  has  alfo  a  country  on  the  eaft,  beyond  that  of 
the  Sheik  of  Bardis ;  on  the  eaft  the  Emir  of  Akmim,  who  has  a  large 
country  alfo  on  the  weft ;  a  Sheik  who  refides  at  Elbanaut,  and  has  a 
fmall  territory  about  Kepht,  and  is  the  brother  of  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout ; 
and  then  the  country  before  mention'd  of  the  Sheik  of  Bardis.  The 
country  on  the  eaft  is  moftly  in  the  poffeflion  of  Arabs,  that  are  not 
under  any  regular  government,  fo  that  as  I  obferved,  there  is  but  one  pro- 
vince under  a  Cafhif,  as  well  as  I  could  be  informed,  which  is  Sciout ; 
and  the  Cafhif  of  Ibrim,  both  on  the  eaft  and  weft  above  the  firft  ca- 
taradt.  Thefe  Arab  Sheiks  are  fucceeded  by  their  fons,  but  they  muft  be  con- 
firm'd  by  the  Pafha,  who  on  that  account  receives  very  great  funis  on  the 
death  of  a  Sheik,  and  delays  confirming  the  next  heir  till  the  money  is 
depofited ;  and  in  this  interval,  the  relations  of  the  Sheik  are  fometimes 
carrying  on  intrigues  to  fupplant  one  another.  But  it  is  faid  that  the 
Pafha  muft  confirm  fuch  a  perfon  as  is  agreeable  to  the  Divan  and 
country. 

pa0ia.  All  Egypt,  on  the  part  of  the  Grand  Signor,  is  govern'd  by  a  Pafha, 

who  having  in  reality  but  very  little  power,  his  bufinefs  feems  chiefly  to 
confift  in  communicating  to  his  Divan  of  Beys,  and  to  the  Divans  of  the 
feveral  military  Ogiaks,  that  is,  their  bodies,  the  orders  of  the  Grand  Sig- 
nor ;  and  to  fee  that  they  be  executed  by  the  proper  officers.  If  he  farms 
the  country  of  the  Grand  Signor,  the  fines  belong  to  him,  that  are  paid 
when  any  life  drops  on  the  lands;  for  originally  all  the  lands  of  Egypt  be- 
long'd  to  the  Grand  Signor,  and  the  Porte  looks  on  them  at  this  time  as 
their  own.  But  the  Grand  Signor's  power  being  loft,  they  now  go  to  the 
next  heir,  who  muft  be  invefted  by  the  Pafha,  and  he  is  glad  to  com- 
pound for  a  fmall  fum,  with  regard  to  the  value  of  the  lands.  The  Pa- 
fha, 

3 


ON  EGYPT.  163 

flia,  in  order  to  execute  his  office  properly,  muft  keep  up  as  good  an  in- 
tereft  as  poffible  with  the  perfons  of  the  greateft  power,  efpecially  with 
one  man,  who  happens  to  be  in  greateft  credit,  and  with  the  leading  men 
of  the  military  bodies,  to  watch  their  defigns;  and  if  he  finds  them  pre- 
judicial to  the  Porte,  to  foment  divifions  amongft  them,  and  if  he  can- 
not obtain  his  ends,  however  to  make  the  beft  party  he  can,  and  be 
ever  laying  fchemes  to  bring  about  his  defigns.  He  muft  find  out  the 
propereft  means  to  cut  off  thofe  he  perceives  are  too  afpiring,  though  it 
will  certainly  end  in  his  own  depofition,  about  which  he  need  not  be  very 
folicitous,  as  his  perfon  is  always  held  facred,  and  as  his  removal  will 
be  a  fure  ftep  to  a  more  profitable  employment.  As  to  the  orders  of  the 
Grand  Signor,  his  bufinefs  is  not  very  great,  becaufe  they  will  not  fuffer 
any  orders  to  be  executed  contrary  to  their  intereft ;  and  therefore  very 
few  are  fent  that  are  difagreeable  to  them.  If  he  has  a  good  intereft  with 
the  perfon  in  chief  credit,  and  with  the  leading  men  of  the  military  bodies, 
and  they  attempt  nothing  againft  the  Porte,  and  the  Porte  leaves  every  thing 
without  innovations,  the  office  of  Pafha  is  very  eafy.  If  he  is  to  create 
divifions,  he  and  his  Caia  ought  to  be  men  of  parts  to  manage  intrigue, 
and  to  employ  fit  inftruments  to  bring  about  their  ends ;  and  if  it  is  necef- 
fary  to  cut  off  Ibme  leading  men,  money  muft  be  well  and  liberally  ap- 
plied, to  engage  perfons  leaft  fufpedted,  to  adt  with  the  utmoft  fecrecy  and 
treachery.  And  it  fometimes  happens  that  when  a  Pafha  has  cut  off 
one  party,  he  manages  fo  as  to  cut  off  the  leading  men  of  that  very  op- 
pofite  party,  who  affifted  him  to  deftroy  the  other. 

If  one  might  conjecture  at  the  original  of  a  Sheik  Belief,  or  head  of  Sheik  Beta, 
the  city,  who  is  appointed  by  the  Pafha,  one  may  imagine  either  that 
he  anfwers  to  fuch  an  officer  of  the  Arabs,  during  the  Mamaluke  govern- 
ment; or  that  the  people  at  fome  time  or  other  might  require  the  Porte 
to  nominate  fuch  a  Bey,  as  might  be  agreeable  to  them,  to  be  their  head, 
and  take  care  of  their  interefts;  a  perfon  himfelf,  if  in  credit,  of  the 
greateft  intereft,  and  is  then  in  reality,  Lord  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt ; 
and  he  afts  with  the  greateft  prudence,  when  he  makes  himfelf  efteem'd 
and  rever'd  by  the  other  leading  men,  keeps  up  a  very  good  correfpon- 
dence  with  the  Porte,  prevents  any  innovations  that  may  be  attempt- 
ed contrary  to  the  intereft  of  it,  takes  care  that  they  fend  no  orders 
that  may  encroach  on  the  liberties  the  country  enjoys,  and  if  any  tu- 
mults happen  to  rife  againft  the  orders  of  the  Porte,  to  endeavour  to 
palliate  them,  as  well  as  poffible,  at  Conftantinople,  that  no  more  may  be 
heard  of  them  ;  and  in  general  to  take  care  that  nothing  be  done  either 
at  home  or  abroad  that  relates  to  his  country,  without  being  communi- 
cated to  him,  or  without  his  advice.  But  in  reality,  all  his  power  de- 
pends on  maintaining  his  credit,  and  not  barely  on  his  office;  for  the  go- 
vernment of  Egypt  is  of  fuch  a  nature,  that  other  perfons  have  often  the 
greateft  influence;  fometimes  a  Caia  of  the  janizaries  orAzabs,  and  even 
fometimes  one  ot  their  meaneft  officers,  an  Oda  Bafha;  and  whoever 
by  his  parts  and  abilities  can  gain  fuch  authority,  and  make  himfelf  the 
idol  of  the  people,  to  his  levee  all  the  great  men  go,  and  whatever  he  fays 
is  a  law  with  them. 

As  upper  Egypt  is  under  fuch  powerful  Arabian  Sheiks,  fo  it  is  necef-  Government 
fary  to  fend  a  Sangiak  to  govern  that  country,  and  to  colle£t  the  tributes  °^ce9"  E" 

due 


1 64  OBSERVATIONS 

due  from  them,  and  from  the  Cafhifs  under  him.  This  governor  refidcs 
at  Girge,  with  his  officers,  almoft  in  as  much  ftate  as  a  Pafha,  has  his 
Divan;  and  detachments  from  the  military  bodies  refide  there.  He  is  named 
yearly  by  the  Divan  at  Cairo,  but  commonly  continues  in  for  three  years. 
Conffitution  Hiftorians  give  us  an  account,  that  Sultan  Selim  utterly  deftroyed  the 
°  gypc'  Mamalukes,  when  he  conquer'd  Egypt.  He  might  leave  them  the  lame  form 
of  government  they  had  before,  but  probably  'twas  only  a  fhadow  of  a 
government:  As  he  feems  to  have  introduced  the  government  of  provinces, 
as  in  other  parts  of  his  dominions ;  fo  it  is  probable  that  he  made  Beys  of 
his  own  creatures,  and  that  Cafhifs  were  fent  into  all  parts  that  were  at- 
tach'd  to  him,  and  had  no  intereft  in  the  country.  It  is  poflible  thefe 
Beys  might  come  in  length  of  time  to  be  fucceeded  by  their  ilavcs  they 
had  advanced  to  offices;  and  fo  the  Beys  at  length  might  all  have  been 
flaves.  And  thus  it  might  approach  nearer  to  the  Mamaluke  government; 
notwithftanding  the  Beys  at  firft  feem  not  to  have  had  any  great  power; 
but  the  military  bodies,  particularly  the  janizaries  and  Azabs,  growing 
powerful,  might  begin  to  attempt  fome  innovations  in  the  government; 
for  in  a  lift  of  Pafhas,  we  find  every  thing  went  on  very  quietly  till  the 
year  one  thoufand  fix  hundred  and  two,  when  a  Pafha  was  maffacred; 
and  twenty-eight  years  after,  the  military  bodies  depofed  a  Pafha,  which 
is  the  only  inftance  of  the  kind,  from  the  time  of  Sultan  Selim  to  the 
year  one  thoufand  fix  hundred  and  feventy-three ;  though  it  is  faid  of 
late  years,  they  have  often  been  obliged  by  the  foldiery  to  defcend  from 
the  caftle;  and  it  is  faid  by  their  capitulations  with  Sultan  Selim,  they 
have  a  power  to  remove  the  Pafha. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Porte  perceiving  the  military  bodies  grew  too  pow- 
erful, were  well  pleafed  to  fell  the  villages  to  the  leading  men  among  them; 
whereas  formerly  they  would  not  purchafe,  that  they  might  not  fubjecr. 
themfelves  to  the  Beys,  to  whom  they  now  pay  court ;  the  Beys,  as  gover- 
nors of  the  provinces,  having  an  abfolute  power  over  their  villages.  And 
now  the  Porte  can  manage  better ,-  for  the  power  being  in  the  hands  of  the 
Beys,  if  they  grow  dangerous,  it  is  more  eafy  to  cut  them  off,  without 
creating  any  difturbances  among  the  people;  whereas  any  injury  offered 
to  a  leading  man  among  the  military  bodies,  might  ftir  up  the  refentment 
of  the  whole  body,  and  be  of  dangerous  confequence.  The  prefent  fuc- 
ceffion of  the  Beys,  as  they  are  not  entirely  attach'd  to  the  Porte,  is  better 
than  il  it  was  hereditary,  for  the  Hafnadar  or  treafurer  of  a  Bey,  or  fome 
other  \>reat  officer  or  Caffiif,  that  was  flave  to  the  deceafed  Bey,  marrying 
the  si  ;dow,  is  obliged  to  give  up  a  great  part  of  the  eftate  to  make  himfelt 
friends,  and  fecure  his  fucceffion;  which  keeps  very  great  eftates  from 
fettling  in  one  perfon.  But  the  Porte  feems  to  have  been  much  miftaken 
in  their  meafures  to  fecure  the  fubjection  of  Egypt  ;  one  great  means 
would  have  been  to  have  conftantly  changed  the  military  bodies  every 
year,  and  not  let  them  fettle  and  have  a  fucceffion  ot  natives  of  the 
country;  and  then  to  have  had  Beys  always  Turks  and  creatures  of  their 
own;  and  chiefly  to  have  ftriclly  prohibited  the  importation  of  Haves  into 
Egypt,  they  being  the  ftrength  of  the  prefent  government  againft  the  Porte  ; 
for  a  great  man  having  given  his  flaves  liberty,  they  are  firft  made  Cai- 
macams,  afterwards  Cafhifs,  and  then  begin  to  purchafe  other  flaves ;  and 
at  length  to  give  them  liberty,  and  all  are  dependant  on  the  firft  great 

mafter. 


ON  EGYPT.  165 

mafter.  And  the  Porte  is  fo  fenfible,  they  ought  to  have  a  greater 
influence  over  the  military  bodies,  that  they  have  frequently  attempted 
to  fend  an  Aga  of  the  janizaries  yearly  from  Conftantinople,  in  order  to 
have  an  abfolute  power  over  the  country;  but  both  the  military  bodies 
and  the  Beys  have  always  oppofed  it. 

The  Paiha  has  a  Caia,  a  Bey  pro  tempore  by  his  office,  who  is  his 
prime  minifter,  and  generally  holds  the  Divan  ;  the  Pafha,  like  the  Grand 
Signor,  fitting  behind  a  lattife  in  a  room  at  the  end  of  the  Divan,  rarely 
aflifting  himlell,  unlefs  it  be  on  any  extraordinary  occafion;  as  reading 
fome  order  from  the  Porte,  or  the  like.  One  of  the  great  officers  that 
always  attends  the  Pafha  when  he  goes  out,  is  the  Dragoman  Aga,  who 
is  not  only  an  interpreter,  but  more  efpecially  afls  as  mafter  of  the  cere- 
monies. The  Pafha  has,  like  the  Grand  Signor,  his  Choufes,  Shatirs, 
Boftangees,  and  a  horfe  guard  of  Tartars,  on  whom  he  would  chiefly 
depend,  both  for  his  fafety,  if  at  any  time  there  were  any  danger,  and 
alfo  in  fending  all  his  difpatches. 

The  Emir  Hadge,  or  Prince  of  the  pilgrims  that  go  to  Mecca,  is  named  Emir  Hadge. 
yearly  from  Conftantinople,  and  generally  continues  in  the  office  two 
years,  to  make  amends  for  the  great  expence  he  is  at  the  firft  year  for  his 
equipage ;  but  if  he  is  a  perfon  of  capacity,  and  has  an  intereft  at  the  Porte, 
he  may  be  continued  longer,  tho'  rarely  more  than  fix  years;  for  if  they 
conduct  the  caravan  feven  years,  the  Grand  Signor  prefents  them  with  a  col- 
lar of  gold ;  and  it  is  faid  that  their  perfons  are  efteemed  facred,  and  they 
cannot  be  publickly  cut  off.  This  officer  has  command  over  the  eftates 
that  belong  to  Mecca,  and  fends  his  Sardars  to  govern  them.  The  per- 
quifites  of  his  office,  befides  what  he  is  allowed  by  the  Porte,  confift  in 
having  a  tenth  of  the  effects  of  all  pilgrims  who  die  in  the  journey.  And 
if  this  great  officer  behaves  himfelf  well  during  his  adminiftration,  it 
procures  him  the  general  efteem  and  affection  of  the  whole  country. 

The  Tefterdar  or  lord  high  treafurer  of  the  tribute  paid  out  of  the  Teferdar: 
lands  to  the  Grand  Signor,  is  named  for  a  year  by  the  Porte,  but  is  ge- 
nerally continued  in  for  many  years.  This  office  is  fometimes  given  to 
one  of  the  pooreft  Beys,  to  enable  him  to  fupport  his  dignity ;  and  fre- 
quently to  a  quiet  Bey,  who  will  enter  into  no  intrigues;  for  one  party 
would  not  care  that  a  fUrring  man  of  the  oppofite  party  fhould  be  invefted 
with  this  office,  which  is  of  great  dignity. 

Cairo  is  under  the  guard  of  the  janizaries.     Old  Cairo  is  guarded  by  a  Guards  of 
Bey  who  refides  there,  and  is  changed  every  month ;  fo  likewife  is  the  coun-  and 
try  north  of  Cairo,  calPd  Adalia ;  and  the  Azabs  have  the  charge  of  the 
country  round  the  city.    An  officer  patroles  about  the  city,  more  efpe- 
cially by  night,  who  is  cali'd  the  Walla,  anfwering  to  the  Turkifh  officer  Walla, 
called  Soubafha ;  he  takes  up  all  perfons  he  finds  committing  any  difor- 
ders,  or  that  cannot  give  an  account  of  themfelves,  or  that  walk  in  the 
ftreets  at  irregular  hours,  and  often  has  their  heads  cut  off  on  the  fpot, 
if  they  are  not  under  the  protection  of  the  janizaries,    or  of  any  of 
the  military  bodies.    As  he  is  the  terror  of  rogues,  fo  for  prefents  made 
to  him,  he  is  often  their  protector ;  and  without  thofe  prefents  they  are 
fure  to  be  cut  off ;  and  to  him  the  great  men  fend  for  any  villains  that 
have  render'd  themfelves  obnoxious  to  them,  and  they  are  fure  to  have 
them  deliver'd.    Another  officer  is  the  Meteflib,  who  has  the  care  of 
Vol.  I.  U  u  all 


i66 


OBSERVATIONS 


all  weights  and  meafures,  and  to  fee  that  every  thing  is  made  juftly  ac- 
cording to  them. 

Government  There  is  a  Caimacam  in  every  great  village,  who  is  under  the  Cafhif, 
of  villages.  an(j  mav  ]iave  eight  or  ten,  or  more  fmall  villages  under  him,  each  of 
which  have  in  them  a  Sheik-Bellet,  either  a  native  Egyptian,  or  an  Arab, 
where  the  Arabs  are  fettled ;  and  thefe  Caimacams,  as  well  as  the  Cafhif, 
have  to  manage  with  the  Sheik  Arabs,  who  in  many  parts,  have  the  real 
power;  and  the  Cafhif  governs  by  making  a  leading  Sheik  Arab  his  friend 
by  prefents  and  management.  All  the  annual  officers  are  appointed  by 
the  Divan,  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  Auguft,  being  the  firft  day  of  the 
Coptic  year  ;  and  the  chief  bufinefs  of  all  thefe  governors,  befides  keeping 
the  country  in  order,  is  to  get  in  the  money  for  the  Grand  Signor,  and 
more  efpecially  for  themfelves. 


CHAP.  II. 
Of  the  Military  bodies  in  Egypt. 

Spahis.  HERE  are  five  bodies  of  Spahis,  or  horfe,  in  Egypt ;  the  two  prin- 

J_  cipal  are  the  Chaoufes  and  the  Muteferrika,  who  were  originally  the 
guards  of  the  Sultans  of  Egypt,  and  their  leaders  were  his  two  Viziers, 
that  always  accompanied  him  ;  the  Choufler-Caiafi  on  his  right  hand,  and 
the  Muteferrika-Bafhee  on  his  left,  and  now  they  always  go  out  with  the 
Pafha.  The  body  of  Chaoufes  feem  originally  to  have  been  the  guard  out 
of  which  the  Sultan  ufed  to  fend  perfons  to  execute  his  orders ;  for  the 
Grand  Signor  has  a  body  of  Chaoufes  for  that  purpofe,  but  they  are  not 
reckon'd  among  the  Spahis.  The  Muteferrika  are  in  themfelves  of  the 
greateft  dignity,  which  that  word  implies,  fignifying The  chofen  people;  be- 
ing generally  perfons  of  fome  diftinftion,  and  the  Grand  Signor  has  a  guard 
of  this  name,  that  are  not  in  the  body  of  the  Spahis.  Here  they  are  fent 
to  garrifon  caftles  ;  and  at  prefent  are  in  the  caftles  of  Adjeroute  and  Yem- 
bo,  in  the  way  to  Mecca.  'Tis  not  improbable  that  they  begun  to  fend 
them  into  thefe  garrifons,  when  the  Circaffian  Mamalukes  or  flaves  had 
drove  out  the  firft  Mamaluke  fucceffion  of  Kings,  which  were  of  the  Tur- 
coman fiaves  call'd  Bahariah,  who  originally  were  fent  to  guard  the  for- 
treffes  on  the  fea  coaft,  as  the  Circaffians  were  fent  to  the  inland  garrifons, 
and  were  alfo  the  guards  of  the  feraglio  of  the  Sultans.  Thefe  Circaffians 
feem  to  have  been  originally  the  third  body  of  Spahis,  call'd  Cercafi,  the 
other  two  are  the  Giomelu  and  the  Tufecfi.  Thefe  three  laft  have  at  their 
head  each  of  them  an  Aga,  and  when  they  have  paffed  through  that  of- 
fice, they  are  call'd  Iftiars  or  Aftiars,  which  in  all  the  military  bodies,  Sig- 
nifies fuch  officers  as  have  paffed  through  all  the  degrees  of  offices  of  their 
refpedtive  bodies.  Thefe  compofe  the  council  of  their  Divan ;  and  a  ftep  to 
this  office  is  firft  to  be  made  a  Serbajee,  or  captain.  They  hold  their  Divan 
in  the  houfe  of  their  Aga,  but  their  bodies  are  of  little  intereft.  When  the 
Divan  of  the  janizaries  or  Azabs  would  have  any  thing  done,  they  fend  a 
Chous  to  the  Pafha,  to  have  an  order  for  it,  which  muft  not  be  denied.  The 
order  is  brought  to  the  Caia  in  charge,  who  gives  it  to  the  Aga,  to  put  it 
in  execution ;  and  the  Bas-Chous  of  the  janizaries  always  affifts  at  the 

Pafha's 


ON    EGYPT.  167 

Pafha's  Divan.  The  flaves  of  the  officers  of  the  military  bodies,  when  they  S,SVM- 
give  them  their  liberty  by  ordering  them  to  let  their  beards  grow,  become 
members  of  that  body,  and  are  advanced ;  and  fo  it  is  really  a  Mamaluke 
government  thro'  every  part  ;  but  the  flaves  are  by  no  means  a  delpicable 
people,  they  are  the  faireft  and  moll  promifing  Chriftian  children  of 
Georgia,  taken  for  the  tribute,  brought  here  to  be  fold,  and  become  Ma- 
hometans. They  are  well  clothed  and  fed,  taught  to  throw  the  dart,  and 
fhoot  with  great  dexterity ;  and  almoft  every  one  of  them  has  a  fervant 
to  take  care  of  his  horfe,  to  wait  on  him,  and  attend  him  on  foot,  near 
his  horfe,  when  he  goes  out.  And  to  fay  the  truth,  they  are  in  the  hands 
of  very  kind  mafters,  and  are  as  obfervant  of  them;  for  of  them  they  are  to 
expedt  their  liberty,  their  advancement,  and  every  thing ;  fo  that  a  flave 
behaves  himfelf  as  one  that  is  to  become  a  governor  of  towns  and  provin- 
ces ;  and  if  he  has  more  ambitious  views,  as  one  that  may  come  to  fuc- 
ceed  his  mafter ;  and  this,  as  1  obferved,  is  the  ftrength  of  the  prefent  go- 
vernment againft  the  Grand  Signor. 

What  has  transferred  the  power,  in  a  great  meafure,  from  the  two  mili- 
tary bodies  of  the  infantry  to  the  Beys,  as  I  obferved,  is  the  leaders  of 
thofe  bodies  purchafmg  lands  of  the  Grand  Signor,  which  obliges  them  to 
be  fubmiflive  to  the  Beys,  that  they  may  not  ruin  their  villages,  whereas 
formerly  the  military  bodies  were  rich,  had  a  treafure,  and  an  eftate  moftly 
in  Cairo,  as  they  have  at  prefent ;  but  the  revenues  of  it  the  Divan  divide 
among  themfelves.  And  when  the  public  body  was  rich,  each  particular 
was  poor,  and  no  one  would  purchafe  villages,  that  he  might  not  be  fub- 
jeft  to  the  Beys,  to  whofe  houfes,  at  that  time,  they  would  not  go;  and 
this  was  what  fecured  their  power,  whereas  now  they  have  loft  that  influ- 
ence, and  the  liberty  they  enjoy'd,  by  fubjefting  themfelves.  At  the  time 
indeed  when  I  was  in  Egypt,  they  had  a  confiderable  fhare  of  power,  oc- 
cafion'd  by  a  wrong  policy  in  the  leading  man,  who,  at  the  fame  time  that 
they  paid  court  to  him,  and  the  other  Beys,  thought  proper  to  do  nothing 
Avithout  the  advice  and  approbation  of  the  leading  Caia  among  the  janiza- 
ries, in  order  to  eftablifh  himfelf. 

By  this  a  Sheik  Bellet  may  continue  fomething  longer  in  credit;  but  it 
has  been  found  that  at  length  he  lofes  his  power,  tho'  he  maintains  his  fta- 
tion ;  there  being  no  other  true  foundation  for  authority  in  thefe  countries, 
but  a  fear  which  approaches  fomething  towards  a  fervile  dread  of  the  per- 
fon  that  commands. 

As  the  military  bodies,  efpecially  the  foot,  which  are  the  janizaries,  and  Infantry, 
Azabs,  have  fo  great  a  fhare  in  the  government,  I  fhall  give  a  more  parti-  *^nconft 
cular  account  of  them ;  for  the  five  bodies  of  Spahis  are  little  confider'd, 
but  the  two  bodies  of  foot,  the  janizaries  and  Azabs,  have  a  great  influence 
in  all  affairs.    The  janizaries  (Jenit-Cheri)  which  word  fignifies  the  new  janizaries, 
band,  confift  of  a  certain  number  of  companies  call'd  Odas  or  Chambers, 
over  each  of  which  there  is  a  head  call'd  Odabafhee.    Thefe  officers  in 
proceffion,  march  with  Caoukes,  or  high  ftiff  turbants,  and  a  fhield  flung 
behind  them  ;  and  as  the  janizaries  have  the  guard  of  the  city,  from  this 
office,  thofe  that  are  thought  fit  to  be  advanced,  are  put  into  an  office 
call'd  Boabodabafhee,  whofe  bufinefs  it  is  to  walk  every  day  about  the  prin- 
cipal parts  of  the  city,  with  many  janizaries  to  attend  him,  to  keep  order, 
and  to  fee  that  all  things  are  regular,  even  to  the  drefs.    This  office  is  for 

three 

a 


i68 


OBSERVATION  S 


three  months ;  he  is  after  advanced  to  be  a  Serach,  who  is  a  fervant  that 
holds  the  ftirrup  of  the  Caia  of  the  janizaries  in  charge,  attends  him 
when  he  goes  out  on  horfeback,  and  ferves  him  as  a  meffenger  on  all  oc- 
cafions,  and  has  ever  after  the  title  of  Chous.    After  he  has  paffed  through 
this  office,  he  is  advanced  to  the  fame  office  under  the  Aga  of  the  janiza- 
ries.   He  may  afterwards  be  chofen  into  the  number  of  Choufes,  or  mef- 
fengers  of  the  Divan  of  the  janizaries,  and  is  calFd  Cuchuk,  or  little  Chous. 
There  is  no  fix'd  time  for  continuing  in  thefe  offices ;  but  as  a  new  Chous 
is  made,  the  others  advance  a  ftep  higher.    The  next  degree  is  Alloy  Chous, 
that  is,  the  Chous  of  the  ceremonies,  who  has  the  care  and'  direction  of 
all  proceffions.    From  this  office  he  is  removed  to  be  Petelma,  which  is 
fomewhat  in  nature  of  a  procurator  to  the  whole  body,  having  the  care  of 
their  effects ;  and  when  any  one  dies  under  the  protection  of  this  body,  he 
feals  up  their  houfes,  to  fecure  the  tenth  part,  which  is  due  to  them  out  of 
the  effects.    After  this  office  he  comes  to  be  Bas-Chous,  or  head  Chous,  and 
enters  into  the  Divan,  or  council  of  the  janizaries,  and  fo  remains  in  the 
Divan,  with  the  body  of  the  Choufes.    He  muft  then  either  go  to  the  war, 
or  with  the  caravan  to  Mecca,  or  with  the  treafure  to  Conftantinople,  and 
then  he  is  made  Waught  Caiafi,  or  Caia  for  the  time  being,  that  is  for  a  year, 
who  is  the  judge  in  all  affairs  that  relate  to  the  body  ;  but  as  there  are 
frequently  four  or  five  Choufes  made  in  a  year,  fo  a  Chous  waits  a  long 
time  before  he  is  advanced  to  this  dignity,  as  they  take  it  according  to  their 
feniority.    When  he  has  paffed  through  this  office,  he  is  in  the  body  of 
Caias,  and  takes  his  place  as  the  youngeft,  below  the  reft.    The  office  of 
Caia  is  properly  a  deputy  or  fteward,  one  that  acts  for  a  perfon  or  body. 
The  Choufes  are  like  purfuivants  at  arms,  and  being  always  fent  by  the  bo- 
dy, approach  nearer  the  nature  of  ambaffadors  or  envoys;  their  perfons 
are  held  very  facred,  and  they  are  people  of  great  authority ;  and  yet  thofe 
in  office  are  always  clothed  in  black,  riding  on  afl'es,  and  have  a  particu- 
lar broad  turbant,  except  the  Bas-Chous,  who  mounts  a  horfc. 
Janitzar  Aga.     The  Janitzar  Aga,  or  general  of  the  janizaries,  is  chofen  by  the  Divan 
of  janizaries,  out  of  what  body  they  pleafe  ot  the  Spahis  or  horfe,  but 
moft  commonly  out  of  the  Muteferrika :  He  has  no  place  in  the  Divan, 
and  the  Bas  Caia  holds  his  ftirrup  when  he  mounts.    He  executes  all  orders 
of  the  Divan  that  belong  to  his  office ;  as  in  dangerous  times,  he  patroles 
once  a  day  about  the  city,  and  publilhes  any  orders  they  think  fit  fhould 
be  known  ;  and  when  he  is  fent  out  to  guard  the  city,  in  time  of  tumults, 
or  when  any  revolution  is  apprehended,  he  is  at  fuch  times  inverted  with 
the  whole  power  or  authority  of  the  body  of  janizaries,  can  cut  off  whom 
he  pleafes,  without  giving  any  account,  or  being  anfwerable  to  any  one, 
except  that  he  muft  demand  of  their  refpective  military  bodies,  fuch  of  the 
foldiery  as  have  render'd  themfelves  obnoxious.    He  is  always,  in  thefe 
cafes,  attended  by  a  Chous  from  each  body  of  the  foot ;  but  as  foon  as 
he  returns  to  his  refidence  in  the  caftle,  his  power  ceafes.    He  ought  to  be 
put  in,  as  at  Conftantinople,  by  the  Grand  Signor  ;  and  it  feems  to  be  an 
ufurpation  for  their  own  body  to  nominate  him.    He  is  indeed  appointed 
and  inverted  with  that  office  by  the  Pafha ;  but  he  is  obliged  to  take  fuch 
a  perfon  as  their  own  body  thinks  proper.    The  Beys  have,  it  is  true,  iome- 
times  interfered,  and  managed  fo  as  to  get  one  of  their  creatures  into  this 
office.    In  Conftantinople  they  have  Serbajees  over  every  chamber ;  but 


ON  EGYPT. 


here  a  Serbajee  is  only  an  honorary  thing,  like  a  brevet  colonel.  When 
any  detachment  is  fent  to  war,  or  on  any  other  affair,  they  are  under 
the  command  of  a  Sardar,  taken  from  the  Caias,  whofe  office  is  at  an 
end  on  his  return.  He  is  as  a  colonel  of  a  detach'd  body ;  the  name  be- 
ing derived  from  the  Perfian  word  Sar,  which  fignifies  a  head  or  chief. 
He  has  his  deputy,  call'd  Jemac,  and  two  Sabederiks,  or  fecretaries.  This 
body,  thus  detach'd,  is  call'd  a  Bouluke  ;  but  the  whole  body  of  janiza- 
ries in  general,  and  their  Divan,  is  call'd  The  Ogiak  of  the  janizaries. 
Both  thefe  and  the  Azabs  have  their  Divan  at  the  caftle,  at  their  refpective 
gates,  call'd  The  gates  of  the  janizaries,  and  of  the  Azabs. 

Azab  fignifies  an  unmarried  perfon,  and  was  a  new  recruit  of  young 
fingle  men  added  to  the  janizaries,  and  became  a  diftindt  body.  They 
have  been  great  rivals  with  the  janizaries  in  Egypt,  and  fometimes  the  Azabs 
have  got  the  better,  as  in  the  tumult  in  the  year  one  thou/and  feven  hundred 
and  fifteen  ;  but  now  the  janizaries  have  the  upper  hand,  notwithftanding 
fome  of  the  Caias  of  the  Azabs  are  men  of  great  intereft.  Their  inftitution 
and  officers  are  the  fame  as  thofe  defcribed  of  the  janizaries ;  only  from 
Odabafhees  they  are  made  Serbajees,  and  from  that  office  Caias,  and  come 
into  the  Divan  ;  whereas  if  they  go  through  thofe  other  offices  of  Seraches 
and  Choufes,  they  never  are  advanced  to  be  Caias,  nor  have  they  the  office 
of  Boabodabafhee,  which  regards  the  government  of  the  city,  with  which 
they  have  nothing  to  do.  On  the  contrary,  among  the  janizaries,  when 
any  one  is  made  a  Serbajee,  'tis  laying  him  afide,  and  he  is  no  further  ad- 
vanced. 

Thefe  two  bodies  are  the  great  protectors  of  the  people,  and  by  their 
Waught  Caia,  all  things  regarding  thofe  under  their  protection,  are  judged, 
and  almoft  all  the  people  are  incorporated  into  one  or  other  of  them. 
And  if  they  apprehend  that  they  are  wrong'd  by  one  body,  they  fly  to  the 
protection  of  the  other,  and  become  a  member  of  it ;  which  often  occa- 
fions  great  broils.     Thus  they  make  themfelves  independent  of  thePafha, 
and  every  body ;  have  their  Bas-Chous  always  in  the  Divan  of  the  Paflia ; 
and,  if  occafion  requires,  their  Bas-Caia,  to  oppofe  any  thing  as  they  think 
proper.     And  when  any  orders  are  fent  to  little  Divans  from  the  Grand 
Signor,  by  means  of  the  Palha,  if  they  are  difpleafing  to  them,  they  return 
them  unexecuted.    And  thefe  two  bodies  have  ufurp'd  a  power  of  depo- 
fing  the  Pafha,  by  fending  a  Bas-Chous  from  each  body,  who,  turning  up 
the  corner  of  his  carpet,  pronounces  thefe  words,  In  Pafha  ;  that  is,  Defcend, 
Pafha :  And  if  he  afks  the  reafon,  they  tell  him.    And  then  he  defcends, 
an  honourable  prifoner  to  a  houfe  prepared  for  him,  and  the  Beys  name  a 
Caimacam  out  of  their  own  body  to  govern,  until  the  Grand  Signor  fends 
another  Pafha.    And  when  the  Pafha  is  out  of  place,  they  always  oblige 
him  to  pay  the  expences  they  were  at  on  account  of  his  public  entry.  There 
is  this  difference  between  the  tumults  here  and  thofe  at  Conftantinople, 
that  the  latter  are  commonly  begun  by  fome  refolute  fellows  among  the 
janizaries,  whereas  here  the  mob  is  generally  raifed  by  fome  great  man, 
who  envies  one  that  is  a  rival  to  him  ;  for  as  long  as  the  Cairiotes  are 
poor  and  weaken'd  by  former  divifions,  they  are  quiet,  but  when  they 
grow  rich  and  great,  they  envy  one  another,  and  fo  fall  into  divifions ; 
which  is  only  avoided  by  a  prudent  perfon's  having  the  fway,  who  either 
makes  all  the  other  great  men  his  friends,  and  adjufts  all  differences  be- 
Vol.  I.  X  x  tween 


OBSERVATIONS 

tween  them,  or  rather  has  fufficient  power  to  make  every  body  fear 
him. 

The  janizaries  in  Conftantinople  have  no  Divan,  but  the  Janitzer  Aga 
enters  the  great  Divan,  and  receives  his  orders  from  the  Grand  Vizier ;  and 
moreover  they  have  not  the  body  of  Azabs  in  Conftantinople.  The  janiza- 
ries alfo  here  have  different  offices,  by  which  they  riie  to  the  higheft  de- 
gree ;  and  every  janizary  has  a  great  power,  which  is  ufurped ;  and 
if  they  iind  any  roguery  among  the  common  people,  they  give  them  the 
baftinado,  without  any  further  ceremony,  and  there  is  no  remedy  for 
thofe  who  have  no  money;  and  when  they  are  going  to  war,  they  are 
lords  of  the  property  of  every  one  ;  infomuch  that  a  ftop  is  put  to  all 
trade,  the  fliops  are  fhut,  and  there  is  no  fecurity  but  in  keeping  out  of 
the  way  ;  for  of  all  the  foldiers  in  the  Grand  Signor's  dominions,  thofe 
of  Cairo  are  moft  infolent  and  injurious.  Egypt  is  obliged  to  furnifh  the 
Grand  Signor  with  three  thoufand  foldiers  every  three  years,  if  he  de- 
mands them;  twelve  hundred  janizaries,  nine  hundred  Azabs,  and  nine 
hundred  Spahi ;  or  if  the  Grand  Signor  fends  them  back,  he  can  demand 
a  frefh  fupply  every  year. 


CHAP.  III. 

Of  the  Adminiftration  of  juftice,  Public  revenues,  Trade  and 
Manufactures  of  Egypt. 

CadiUskier.  "JUSTICE  is  adminiftred  in  Egypt  almoft  in  the  fame  manner  as  in 
I  other  parts  of  Turkey.  A  Cadilifkier,  like  a  lord  high  chancellor,  is 
ient  yearly  from  Conftantinople  to  Grand  Cairo,  to  whom  they  may  appeal 
from  the  Cadis  ;•  and  many  caufes  of  importance  in  Cairo  go  immedi- 
ately before  him.  He  has  his  deputy,  call'd  Nakih,  and  his  houfe  is  the 
place  of  juftice.  There  are  in  Cairo  alfo  eight  Cadis  in  different  parts, 
and  in  every  ward  there  is  an  officer  call'd  Kabani,  who  is  fomething  like 
a  public  k  notary  ;  for  by  him  all  obligations  that  are  valid  are  drawn.  He 
islikewhc  a  public  weigh-mafter,  by  whom  every  thing  ought  to  be  weigh'd. 

The  city  is  divided  into  as  many  parts  almoft  as  ftreets,  which  civihons 
have  gates  to  them,  kept  by  porters,  who  fhut  them  up  at  night ;  and 
to  every  ftreet  where  Chriftians  or  Jews  live,  there  is  a  guard  of  janiza- 
ries, who  were  firft  appointed  to  prevent  the  felling  of  ipirhuous  liquors. 
A  Cadi  is  fent  yearly  from  Conftantinople  to  Alexandria,  Rofetto,  Da- 
miata,  and  Gize ;  but  the  Cadilifkier  fends  them  from  Cairo  to  moft  other 
towns;  for  the  law  is  much  ftudied  here;  which  is  written  in  the  pureft 
language,  fuch  as  is  fpoken  at  Damafcus,  for  that  is  efteemed  the  beft. 
They  have  a  faying,  "  That  the  law  cuts  the  fword,  but  the  fvvord  cannot 
"  cut  the  law ;"  for  the  Grand  Signor  himfelf  cannot  take  off  a  perfon  of 
the  law.  But  if  any  great  man  in  that  profeffion  has  render'd  himfelf  ob- 
noxious, he  orders  him  a  horfe's  tail,  by  which  he  is  made  a  Pafha,  or  ge- 
neral, and  then  he  can  fend  him  a  bow  ftring;  but  executions  of  that 
kind  are  never  order'd  in  Egypt,  left  the  people  fhould  take  part  with 
the  offender,  who  is  commanded  to  fome  other  place  to  wait  his  pu- 

niihment. 


ON    EGYPT.  171 

nifhtnent.  As  the  Mahometan  faith  is  divided  into  fpeculative  and  pra-  ' 
<ftical,  they  ftudy  the  latter,  as  it  relates  to  their  morals  and  their  laws ; 
and  go  through  much  the  fame  courfe  of  ftudy  to  be  officers  of  their 
religion,  and  of  their  law ;  only  the  moft  able  men  apply  to  the  latter, 
and  more  particularly  direct  their  ftudies  to  the  knowledge  of  the  law. 
But  it  is  to  be  obferv'd,  that  in  Egypt  many  caufes  are  carried  before  lead- 
ing men,  who  abfolutcly  decide,  evenagainft  the  fentence  of  the  magi- 
ftrate;  and  there  is  no  appeal  to  be  had  from  them  ;  and  when  they  do 
apply  to  the  Cadi,  an  intereft  is  often  made  by  leading  men,  that  is  not 
to  be  refilled.  However,  bne  thing  is  much  to  be  admir'd,  as  to  the 
manner  of  adminiftring  juftice,  that  all  caufes  are  immediately  decided  as 
foon  as  they  are  brought  before  them. 

The  religious  perlbns  who  have  the  care  of  the  mofques  here,  are  call'd  Sheiks  of 
Sheiks,  in  Turkifh  they  are  called  Imam,  which  is  alfo  an'  Arab  word,  Mof,ues' 
fignifying,  as  well  as  Sheik,  a  head  or  chief:  They  have  more  or  fewer  to 
one  mofque,  according  to  it's  fize  and  revenues ;  one  is  head  over  the  reft, 
who  anfwers  to  a  parifh  prieft;  under  him  there  are  Hogis,  (readers)  and 
thofe  who  cry  out  To  prayers ;  but  in  fmall  mofques  the  Sheik  does  all 
himfelf.  In  fuch  it  is  their  bufinefs  to  open  the  mofque,  to  cry  To  prayers, 
and  to  begin  their  fhort  devotions  at  the  head  of  the  congregation,  who 
ftand  rank  and  file  in  great  order,  and  make  all  their  motions  together; 
they  alfo  generally  make  an  harangue  to  the  people  every  friday.  I  have 
been  told  fome  Sheiks  have  been  advanced  to  be  Cadis,  and  Cadis  are 
fometimes,  when  unfit  for  bufinefs,  made  Sheiks  of  mofques,  if  they  de- 
fire  it,  that  is,  if  they  have  not  faved  fortunes ;  for  here  the  Cadis,  that 
are  put  in  by  the  Cadiiifkier,  remain  in  their  office  many  years. 

The  relations  of  Mahomet,  called  in  Arabic,  Sherif  or  noble,  by  the  Relcom  of 
Turks,  Emir  or  prince,  have  the  priviledge  of  being  exempt  from  ap-  MahonM' 
pearing  before  any  judge  but  their  own  head,  who  is  himfelf  a  relation  of 
Mahomet,  and  is  call'd  Neckib-el-Efheraf ;  and  they  are  fo  much  efteem'd, 
that  though  any  one  of  the  military  bodies  will  punifh  them,  if  guilty  of 
any  mifdemeanor,  yet  they  firft  take  off  their  green  turbant,  out  of  re- 
fpedt  to  their  character,  and  then  fubjecl:  them  to  punifhment  as  well  as 
any  others ;  and  this  is  done  even  when  they  are  punifhed  by  their  own 
magiftrate. 

The  revenues  of  the  Grand  Signor,  in  Egypt,  confift  of  three  branches,  Revenues  of 
which  arife  from  the  lands,  the  cuftoms,  and  the  poll-tax  on  Chriftians  ^rrand 
and  Jews.    The  immenfe  riches  of  the  Grand  Signor  may  be  eafily  col-  S°°r 
ledted,  if  one  confiders  that  he  is  abfolute  lord  of  all  the  lands  in  his 
dominions  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  bad  government,  all  the  riches  cen- 
ter in  the  Grand  Signor ;  for  the  little  officers  opprefs  the  people  ;  the 
great  officers  fqueeze  them ;  and  out  of  Egypt,  the  Pafha  all  the  people 
under  him ;  the  Pafha  himfelf  becomes  a  prey  to  the  great  people  of 
the  Porte ;  and  the  Grand  Signor  at  laft  feizes  the  riches  of  the  great  of- 
ficers about  him. 

All  the  villages  in  Egypt  pay  a  certain  yearly  rent  to  the  Grand  Signor,  The  Rents 
which  is  fix'd ;  and  this  is  the  Hafna  or  treafure,  that  is  fent  every  year  of  Lands' 
to  Conftantinople.    How  eafy  the  rent  is,  may  be  concluded  from  the  fum 
which  is  raifed,  which  amounts  only  to  fix  thoufand  purfes,   each  of 
twenty-five  thoufand  Medines,  which  is  about  eighty  pounds  fterling  ;  out 

of 

3 


1 7a  OBSERVATIONS 

of  this,  corn,  flower,  oil,  and  the  like  are  fent  yearly  to  Mecca,  and  twelve 
thoufand  foldiers  are  paid,  which  reduces  the  treafure  to  twelve  hundred 
purfes ;  out  of  which  they  alfo  deducT:  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  purfes, 
according  to  the  pretences  they  can  make,  which  are  moftly  with  regard  to 
the  conveyance  of  the  water  of  the  Nile  to  their  lands;  as  in  opening 
and  cleaning  fome  great  common  canals,  and  repairing  fome  walls  that 
ferve  for  keeping  up,  or  turning  the  waters;  and  five  hundred  dollars  a 
month  is  paid  to  the  Beys.    They  alfo  deduct  for  the  repairs  of  all  caftles ; 
and  great  ftores  of  lugar  and  fhirbets  for  the  ufe  of  the  Seraglio,  and  cor- 
dage for  the  arfenal,  are  fent  yearly  out  of  this  fum;  fo  that  though  a 
Bey  and  feveral  hundred  men  go  every  year  to  guard  this  treafure  to 
Conftantinople,  it  does  not  commonly  amount  to  more  than  two  hundred 
purges  in  fpecie.    This  treafure  was  ufually  fent  by  fea,  but  being  once 
taken  by  the  Florentines,  they  have  fince  gone  by  land,  taking  the  other 
treafures  in  the  way  at  Damafcus  and  other  places ;  it  goes  under  the  con- 
duel  of  a  Bey,  and  a  detachment  from  each  of  the  military  bodies.  They 
return  by  fea,  with  the  fleet  of  Alexandria,  and  have  ufurp'd  a  privi- 
ledge  of  bringing  what  merchandice  they  pleafe  cuftom  free. 
The  landed      lt  feenis  as  if  Egypt  was  formerly  divided  into  Timars,  or  knights  fees, 
that  is,  lands  granted  for  life,  on  condition  of  fumifhing  fo  many  men 
for  the  war,  who  were  obliged  to  rank  themfelves  under  the  Sangiaks  or 
banners  of  their  province,  from  whence  came  the  title  of  Sangiak,  for  a 
governour  of  a  province  ;  but  1  cannot  now  find  any  thing  of  this,  and 
it  may  be  that  the  extraordinary  advance  the  country  gives  to  the  three 
thoufand  foldiers  fent  once  in  three  years,  if  the  Grand  Signor  commands 
them,  is  in  lieu  of  it.    Thefe  lands  are  fold  during  life,  at  a  fix'd  rent, 
and  the  money  arifing  from  the  fales  is  commonly  given  to  the  Pafha, 
who  pays  to  the  Porte  about  eight  hundred  purfes  a  year  for  it ;  but  much 
roguery  is  pra&ifed  in  this,  for  a  great  man  buys  them  in  the  name  of 
a  flave,  and  he  has  two  or  more  flaves  of  that  name,  and  often  pretends 
when  one  dies,  that  the  village  was  bought  in  the  name  of  the  other. 
There  are  lands  that  belong  to  Mecca,  the  revenue  of  which  is  received 
by  the  Kifler-Aga  or  black  eunuch,  who  fends  a  deputy  here  to  manage 
the  revenues  of  thofe  eftates,  which  are  moftly  paid  in  corn,  fent  to  fup- 
ply  the  country  of  Mecca.    And  as  to  the  Grand  Signor's  rents  or  tribute, 
if  the  Nile  does  not  rife  to  fixteen  pikes,  when  the  canal  at  Cairo  is  cut, 
they  are  not  fent ;  becaufe  the  confequence  of  it  would  be  a  want  of  every 
thing  throughout  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  occafion  a  famine. 
Curtoms.        The  fecond  branch  of  the  Grand  Signor's  revenues,  are  the  cuftoms  of 
Egypt.    The  Ogiak  of  the  janizaries  farm  all  the  cuftoms  of  the  Pafha, 
who  takes  them  of  the  Grand  Sjgnor;  and  when  I  was  in  Egypt,  the 
Grand  Signor  fending  a  perfon  to  take  it  out  of  their  hands,  they  managed 
fo,  that  it  had  no  effect.    The  cuftoms  are  taken  by  the  janizaries  at  a  fix'd 
price,  but  thev  are  often  obliged  to  make  an  extraordinary  prefent  to  the 
Pafha.    They  let  them  commonly  to  Jews,  but  Damiata  has  been  ge- 
nerally in  the  hands  of  Chriltians, 

The  cuftoms  of  Damiata  are  let  for  four  hundred  purfes,  and  may 
yield  five  or  fix  hundred;  the  cuftoms  of  Alexandria,  for  two  hundred 
and  eighty  purfes,  and  produce  about  four  hundred  to  the  farmer.  The 
cuftoms  of  Bulac  the  port  of  Cairo,  and  of  things  landed  from  upper 

Egypt 


ON    EGYPT.  173 

Egypt  at  old  Cairo,  are  likewife  farm'd  ;  the  cuftoms  of  Suez  may 
be  worth  eight  hundred  purfes,  being  about  twenty-feven  fhillings  on 
every  bale  of  coffee ;  thefe  the  Pafha  keeps  in  his  own  hands,  as  likewife 
the  merchandices  brought  from  Mecca,  which  is  about  half  a  guinea  on 
every  camel.  Thofe  of  upper  Egypt  are  given  to  the  Bey  there  ;  thefe 
cuftoms  arife  from  a  duty  of  ten  per  cent  on  all  goods  imported,  and  feven 
more  when  they  come  to  Cairo,  but  the  Englifh  and  French  pay  only 
three  per  cent,  inftead  of  feventeen,  which  is  fettled  by  treaties  with  the 
Porte.  The  Swedes  alfo  have  lately  obtain'd  an  order  for  the  lame  purpofe. 
The  Venetians  and  Dutch,  by  reafon  of  fome  debts  contracted  here,  did 
not  fend  confuls,  and  had  loft  their  priviledge,  but  the  Venetians  have  late- 
ly regain'd  theirs.    All  perfons  pay  three  per  cent  for  goods  exported. 

The  other  branch  of  the  Grand  Signor's  revenue  in  Egypt  is  the  poll-  Poll-tax. 
tax  on  the  Chriftians  and  Jews,  call'd  the  Harach ;  this,  till  within  a  few 
years,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  janizaries,  who  gave  eighty  purfes  a  year 
for  it;  but  an  Harach-Aga  being  fent  from  Conftantinople,  by  applying 
a  great  fum  of  money  to  the  leading  men,  he  got  pofleffion  of  the  Ha- 
rach or  poll-tax ;  and  it  is  faid,  he  makes  of  it,  for  the  Grand  Signor, 
eight  hundred  purfes.  Before  this,  the  Chriftians  paid  but  a  trifle,  by 
capitulation  with  Sultan  Selim,  the  fum  being  only  two  dollars  and  three 
quarters  a  head ;  and  this  capitulation  the  Coptis  fay  they  have  in  their 
own  hands.  The  great  men  confented  to  this,  not  thinking  that  it 
would  any  way  interfere  with  their  interefts,  nor  confidering  that  it 
would  drain  the  kingdom  of  fo  much  more  money  every  year ;  for  now 
they  pay  according  to  their  fubftance,  either  two  dollars  and  three 
quarters,  or  five  and  a  half,  or  eleven,  each  dollar  being  about  half  a  crown, 
for  which  a  certain  number  of  papers  are  fent  yearly  from  Conftantino- 
ple, as  to  other  parts;  which  muft  be  either  return'd,  or  the  money  an- 
fwering  to  the  fums  contain'd  in  them;  which  papers  are  given  to  thofe 
who  pay  the  tribute,  and  are  their  acquittances.  The  perfons  that  pay 
are  only  men,  after  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  fixteen. 

As  to  the  trade  of  Egypt,  that  which  is  within  itfelf  confifts  in  fupply-  Trade  of  E- 
ing  the  lower  parts  from  above,  with  corn,  all  forts  of  pulfe  and  dates  j  s?pt' 
and  the  upper  parts  from  Delta,  with  rice  and  fait,  and  from  Cairo,  all  kinds 
of  things  imported  into  Egypt;  as  upper  Egypt  has  no  commerce  by  the 
fea,  or  any  other  parts  that  can  fupply  them  with  fuch  things.  Before 
the  way  was  found  to  the  Eaft  Indies,  by  the  cape  of  Good  Hope,  Egypt 
had  a  great  trade,  by  landing  all  Indian  and  Perfian  goods  at  Coffir  on 
the  Red  fea,  bringing  them  to  Kept  four  days  by  land,  and  then  carry- 
ing them  to  Alexandria,  whence  they  were  diftributed  all  over  Europe 
by  the  Venetians,  which  was  the  great  riches  of  that  ftate,  which  has  ever 
fmce  declined.    Indian  linens,  muflins,  callicoes  and  china  ware  are  dearer 
here  than  they  are  in  England,  being  brought  a  great  part  of  the  way 
by  land.    The  exportation  of  coffee  and  rice  out  of  Egypt  into  any  parts  Export, 
out  of  Turkey,  is  prohibited,  but  prefents  make  all  thofe  things  eafy  ;  many 
forts  of  Indian  druggs  are  exported  to  Europe,  and  fome  of  the  growth 
of  this  country,  which  are  fenna,  caffia,  a  little  coloquintida,  and  a  red 
dye,  call'd  faffranoun.    They  fend  flax  to  Leghorn,  and  all  over  Turkey, 
and  cottons  to  Marfeilles.    The  import  is  Englifh,  French,  and  Venetian  import, 
cloth ;  filks  from  Leghorn  and  Venice,  fome  druggs  and  dyes,  tin  from 

Vol.  I.  Y  y  England, 


i74  OBSERVATION  S 

England,  lead  and  marble  blocks  from  Leghorn,  many  forts  of  fmall  wares 
from  France,  Venice,  and  Conftantinople,  and  from  the  latter  furrs,  and 
all  forts  of  copper  veffels  and  plates,  which  are  much  ufed,  being  tinned 
over.  And  from  Salonica,  they  bring  all  their  iron  in  Turkifli  fhips,  that 
it  may  not  be  carried  out  of  Turkey,  which  is  ftridtly  prohibited  ;  and  they 
bring  carpets  from  Afia  Minor,  and  many  things  of  the  woollen  manu- 
facture from  Barbary,  and  raw  filks  from  Syria.  They  alfo  import  coral 
and  amber,  to  be  fent  to  Mecca  for  toys  and  ornaments.  The  manu- 
Manufa-,  failures  of  Egypt  are  moftly  fpent  among  themfelves,  except  linens,  of 
fturel'  which  there  are  great  quantities  fent  to  France,  Italy,  Algiers,  and  all  over 
Turkey.  Their  manufactures  confift  chiefly  of  three  branches,  the  li- 
nen, woollen,  and  filk.  The  woollen  is  of  un-napped  carpets,  ufed  moft- 
ly for  the  feats  of  Divans,  or  fophas ;  all  made  with  broad  ftripes,  of  diffe- 
rent colours,  and  little  other  variety.  Thefe  are  made  at  Benefuief,  towards 
upper  Egypt,  as  before  obferved.  The  raw  filk  is  brought  to  Damiata  from 
Syria :  They  make  of  it  large  handkerchiefs  for  womens  veils,  and  a 
very  rich  fort  of  handkerchief  work'd  with  gold,  and  in  flowers  of  feveral 
colours,  ufed  likewife  on  many  occafions  by  the  ladies,  to  throw  over 
prefents  they  fend  to  one  another;  and  fometimes  they  make  cufhions  and 
coverings  of  this  fort  for  the  fophas,  which  are  very  coftly.  In  Cairo  they 
manufacture  great  variety  of  fattinets  and  taffetas,  many  in  imitation  of 
thofe  of  India,  but  none  of  them  very  good. 

The  Delta  and  other  parts  of  Egypt  produce  a  great  quantity  of  flax  ; 
they  do  not  fpin  it  with  a  wheel,  but  letting  the  fpindle  hang  down,  they 
draw  out  the  thread  from  the  diftaff,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  fifty-ninth 
plate.  Egypt  is  not  now  remarkable  for  its  fine  linen;  which  feems  to 
be  owing  to  the  little  ufe  they  have  for  it,  becaufe  the  people  of  condition 
wear  a  fort  of  muflin,  which  is  much  properer  for  fo  hot  a  climate.  What 
linen  they  make  for  wear  is  exceedingly  cheap,  and  becomes  white;  it  is 
manufactured  chiefly  at  Rofetto,  where  they  alfo  make  many  ftriped  li- 
nens, ufed  moftly  about  beds,  as  a  defence  againft  gnats  at  night.  They 
alfo  make  of  this  fort  at  Cairo  and  Faiume  ,-  and  at  the  latter  great  quan- 
tities of  fackloth  brought  to  Cairo.  At  Imbabe,  oppofite  to  Cairo,  and 
the  villages  about  it,  they  make  a  coarfe  ftrong  linen  ufed  for  fheets. 
They  have  alfo  a  great  manufacture  of  linens  at  Sciout,  in  upper  Egypt  ; 
but  the  very  beft  linen  that  is  made  is  about  Mahalla  in  Delta,  and  Da- 
miata, efpecially  the  latter :  It  is  ufed  for  napkins  and  towels,  and  long  nar- 
row clothes  thrown  round  the  difh  at  eating,  to  be  ufed  by  the  guefts. 
It  is  a  plain  well-woven  linen,  tho'  not  fine ;  but  being  work'd  with  a 
ftriped  filk  border,  fells  dear. 

The  Turks  have  chiefly  a  genius  for  merchandice,  fo  that  moft  arts  that 
require  ingenuity,  are  here  generally  in  the  hands  of  Chriftians  ;  particu- 
larly the  lilver-fmiths  and  jewellers,  in  all  parts,  which  is  a  great  trade 
here,  by  reafon  of  the  ornaments  of  the  women,  and  of  the  trappings  of 
their  horfes  ;  but  they  can  ufe  no  plate  in  their  houfes,  nor  can  the  Maho- 
metan men  wear  a  gold  ring,  according  to  their  law,  unlefs  they  give  a 
tenth  of  what  they  are  worth  to  the  poor,  of  which  there  are  hardly  any 
inftances.  But  it  has  been  faid  that  fome  have  thought  to  evade  this  law  by 
holding  out  in  their  hands  a  fum  of  money,  for  the  tenth  of  what  they  are 
worth,  to  the  poor,  and  alking  them  what  they  would  take  for  it ;  and  fo 

compound 


ON   EGYPT.  i75 

compound  with  them.  The  women  are  very  coftly  in  their  golden  bracelets, 
and  other  ornaments  of  gold  and  jewels;  becaufe  throughout  Turkey,  as  I 
have  been  inform'd,  if  there  are  children,  a  woman  by  the  law,  after  her 
hufband's  death,  (unlefs  particular  donations  are  made)  has  nothing  but 
her  apparel,  which  is  often  fold  with  her  jewels  and  ornaments  of  gold, 
to  maintain  the  poor  widow.  They  have  here  very  curious  lattifes  for  their 
windows ;  which  when  made  with  the  utmoft  art,  are  very  coftly.  And 
before  their  mofque  windows,  they  have  of  this  fort  made  of  iron  and  brafs, 
in  the  moft  perfect  manner,  being  all  of  round  bars  let  into  one  another,  fo 
as  to  be  divided  into  many  fmall  fquares,  and  they  are  embellifh'd  with  very 
proper  ornaments  ;  but  thefe  feem  to  be  remains  of  the  works  under  the 
Mamaluke  government,  when  they  were  very  magnificent  in  their  archi- 
tecture. The  Egyptian  pebbles  are  wrought  here,  and  polifh'd  in  great 
perfection,  for  handles  of  knives  and  muff-boxes  ;  and  they  cannot  do  it 
fo  cheap  in  any  other  parts.  It  is  done  in  the  fame  manner  as  they  work 
precious  ftones,  with  a  wheel,  and  the  bufinefs  is  in  the  hands  of  one  Jew. 
They  make  alfo  red  leather  at  Cairo;  but  the  beft  is  prepared  at  Alexan- 
dria, which  does  not  come  up  to  the  perfection  of  the  Morocco  leather, 
which  is  of  a  brighter  red.  For  all  arts,  they  are  reckon'd  much  inferior 
here  to  what  they  are  in  Conftantinople,  which  makes  every  thing  efteem'd 
that  comes  from  that  place.  Egypt  is  famous  for  Sal  Armoniac,  which 
they  export,  and  for  hatching  chickens  in  ovens,  of  which  I  fhall  give  an 
account  in  the  laft  book. 

The  money  that  paffes  in  Egypt  is  Burbers,  Medines,  Sequins,  and  feveral  Money, 
forts  of  foreign  coins,  moftly  Spanifh.  The  Burber  is  a  thick  piece  of 
copper  about  as  broad  as  a  fix-pence;  twelve  of  them  make  a  Medine,  which 
is  of  iron  filver'd  over,  about  as  big  as  a  filver  three-pence.  Three  afpers 
make  alfo  a  medine,  a  coin  of  the  fame  kind,  but  they  are  not  made  here. 
They  coin  two  forts  of  Sequins,  one  of  one  hundred  and  forty-fix  Medines, 
call'd  a  Funduclee,  and  a  new  coin  of  a  hundred  and  ten  Medines,  call'd 
a  Zumaboob.  They  have  alfo  Barbary  Sequins  of  different  value.  The 
bafe  money  of  Conftantinople  does  not  pafs  here.  A  purfe  is  twenty- 
five  thoufand  Medines  ;  but  in  other  parts  of  Turkey,  it  is  only  twenty 
thoufand:  And  where  they  fpeak  of  great  fums,  they  always  compute  by 
purfes. 

The  fmalleft  weight  is  a  grain,  four  of  which  make  a  carat,  ufed  for  Weights, 
weighing  diamonds.  They  have  alfo  a  weight  for  pearls,  call'd  a  Metacal, 
which  confifts  of  a  carat  and  a  half,  or  two  carats.  Sixteen  carats  make  a 
dram,  twelve  drams  an  ounce,  twelve  ounces  a  Rotolo,  three  Rotolos  an 
Oke,  and  from  one  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  Rotolos,  a  Cantar,  or 
Quintal,  according  to  the  goods  they  weigh.  The  Rotolo  of  Alexandria 
is  three  hundred  and  ten  drams ;  the  Englifh  pound  weight  is  about  two 
drams  more  than  the  common  Rotolo.  Two  hundred  and  ten  Okes  make 
an  Adeb  of  rice  of  Damiata,  one  hundred  and  fifty  at  Rofetto,  which  is 
the  meafure  for  corn,  except  that  it  is  double  in  upper  Egypt.  In  other 
parts  of  Turkey,  fix  Okes  make  a  Batman,  and  forty  Batmans  a  load,  (as 
I  fuppofe  it  muft  be,)  for  a  camel,  which  is  about  feven  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds;  tho'  in  Egypt  there  are  camels  that  will  carry  a  thoufand  weight. 

They  have  two  meafures  call'd  Pikes,  the  larger  is  call'd  The  Pike  of  Meafure:. 
Conftantinople,  and  is  about  twenty-feven  Englifh  inches.    They  meafure 

all 

I 


176  OBSERVATIONS 

all  foreign  gcods  with  it,  except  fuch  as  are  made  of  flax  and  cotton,  for 
which  they  ufe  the  fmall  Pike,  call'd  Pike  Belledy,  or,  The  Pike  of  the 
country,  becaufe  they  meafure  with  it  all  the  manufactures  of  the  country. 
This  pike,  as  I  was  inform'd,  confifts  of  about  twenty-four  inches,  Englifh 
meafure. 

Caravans.  One  great  caravan  that  arrives  at  Cairo,  is  of  thofe  blacks  who  come 
from  the  country  near  the  ifle  of  Pheafants,  and  pafs  through  Fez,  Mo- 
rocco, and  Tripoly,  and  are  about  eight  months  on  the  journey.  What 
they  bring  is  chiefly  gold  duft.  Caravans  alfo  come  from  Tunis  and  Al- 
giers. Another  caravan  is  of  Berberins  from  Sennar,  who  bring  the  goods 
of  Ethiopia,  and  of  feveral  parts  of  Africa,  as  black  flaves,  gold  duft,  ele- 
phants teeth,  gums,  oftrich  feathers,  musk,  ambergris,  and  ebony. 


CHAP.  IV. 

Of  the  ftate  of  Religion  in  Egypt,  its  Inhabitants,  their 

Policy. 

AS  to  the  ftate  of  religion  in  Egypt,  the  Coptic  is  that  of  the  native 
Chriftians  of  the  country.  There  are  many  Greeks  in  Cairo  and 
Damiata,  but  very  few  in  Alexandria  and  Rofetto;  and  in  the  other 
parts  of  Egypt,  only  fome  merchants  in  the  principal  towns.  There  are 
very  few  Armenians  in  Cairo ;  but  they  have  a  church  there-  given  them 
by  the  Coptis,  in  lieu  of  a  chapel  they  yielded  to  them  in  the  church  of 
The  holy  fepulchre  at  Jerufalem.  The  Chriftian  religion  would  be  at  a 
very  low  ebb,  if  the  people  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  have  Copti 
ftewards  of  their  eftates,  who  are  well  acquainted  with  all  affairs,  are  very- 
dextrous  at  keeping  accounts,  which  they  do  in  a  fort  of  Coptic  cha- 
racters underftood  by  no  body  elfe ;  and  one  reafon  why  they  make  ufe  of 
them  may  be,  that  thefe  people  are  more  under  their  command,  and  they 
may  have  them  more  in  their  power,  in  cale  of  any  breach  of  truft. 
Thefe  ftewards,  in  every  village,  are  a  fort  of  lords,  and  are  protectors  of 
the  Chriftians  in  it. 

Coptis.  The  Coptis,  of  all  the  Eafterns,  feem  to  be  the  moft  irreverent  and 

carelefs  in  their  devotions.  The  night  before  fundays  and  feftivals,  they 
fpend  in  their  churches,  and  the  holy  day  in  fauntering  about,  and  fitting 
under  their  walls  in  winter,  and  under  fhady  trees  in  fummer.  They  feem 
to  think  that  their  whole  religion  confifts  in  repeating  their  long  fervices, 
tho'  without  the  leaft  devotion,  and  in  ftridtly  obferving  their  numerous 
fafts.  If  we  except  the  convents  of  the  deferts  of  St.  Macarius  and  St. 
Antony,  and  one  at  Efne,  the  convents  are  inhabited  only  by  one  or  two 
married  priefts  ;  but  the  patriarch  muft  be  a  man  that  never  has  been  mar- 
ried, and  is  taken  out  of  one  of  thofe  convents.  They  are  all  exceedingly 
ignorant,  both  priefts  and  people :  The  former  perform  the  fervice  in  the 
Coptic  language,  by  rote,  of  which  they  generally  underftand  very  little; 
but  they  have  books  of  their  liturgy,  with  the  Arabic  interpretation.  It 
would  make  a  volume  to  give  an  account  of  all  the  particular  rites  of  the 
Alexandrian  church. 

Strabo 


ON  EGYPT.  177 

Strabo  "  mentions  two  extraordinary  cuftoms  among  the  Egyptians,  which  ^umci" 
the  Coptis  obferve  when  their  children  are  about  ten  years  of  age ;  but  neither 
of  them  is  a  religious  rite,  and  they  give  fome  reafons  for  this  practice.  The 
Mahometans  likewife  in  upper  Egypt,  whom  we  may  fuppofe  to  be  original 
natives  of  the  country,  and  confequently  their  anceftors  Chriftians,  obferve 
both  thefe  cuftoms;  and  by  this  feem  to  be  diftinguifh'd  from  thofe  that  are 
not  true  Egyptians.  The  Coptis  bear  an  implacable  hatred  towards  the  Coptis. 
Greeks,  ever  fince  the  famous  affair  of  preffmg  them  to  receive  the  coun- 
cil of  Chalcedon ;  and  when  the  Greeks  got  the  upper  hand,  it  is  faid 
they  treated  them  with  great  rigour.  They  have  alfo  generally  as  little  re- 
gard for  the  Europeans,  which  proceeds,  in  a  great  meafure,  from  an  endea- 
vour in  thofe  of  the  church  of  Rome  to  make  converts  of  them.  And  they 
rarely  diftinguifh  between  thofe  of  different  religions,  but  include  all  un- 
der the  name  of  Franks.  The  Jews  have  one  particular  cuftom  here  :  As  Jews- 
they  were  afraid  in  the  times  of  Paganifm,  to  drink  wine  offer'd  to  idols, 
it  was  ufual  to  have  all  the  wine  they  drank  made  by  their  own  people, 
and  feal'd  up  to  be  fent  to  them  ;  and  this  cuftom  they  ftill  obferve  in  all 
the  eaftern  parts.  They  have  thirty-fix  fynagogues  in  Cairo,  and  one  in 
old  Cairo,  in  which  they  fay  the  prophet  Jeremiah  was,  as  obferved  before. 
There  is  a  particular  feci:  among  them  who  live  by  themfelves,  and  have  a 
feparate  fynagogue ;  and  as  the  other  Jews  are  remarkable  for  their  eyes, 
fo  they  obferve  thefe  are  for  their  large  nofes.  They  are  the  antient  Ef- 
fenes,  and  have  now  the  name  of  Charaims,  from  Mekra,  the  name  by 
which  they  call  the  five  books  of  Mofes  ;  which  they  ftricTrly  obferve,  ac- 
cording to  the  letter,  not  receiving  any  written  traditions.  It  is  faid  that 
the  others  would  join  with  them,  but  not  having  obferved  the  exact 
rules  of  the  law,  with  regard  to  divorces,  they  think  that  they  live  in 
adultery. 

The  Mahometan  inhabitants  of  Egypt  are  either  original  natives,  in  the  inhabitants 
villages  call'd  Filaws,  or  they  are  of  the  Arab  race.  The  latter  are  of  two  grabs'1'1' 
forts.  Thofe  from  the  eaft,  moftly  on  the  eaftern  fide  of  the  river,  and 
thofe  of  the  weft,  call'd  Mugrabi,  or  weftern  people,  who  have  come  from 
the  parts  of  Barbary,  have  different  manners  and  cuftoms  from  the  others, 
and  are  rather  worfe.  Many  of  the  Arabs  are  fettled  in  villages,  and  are 
honeft  people,  efpecially  in  upper  Egypt.  Thofe  who  live  under  tents  are 
call'd  Bedoui,  fubfifting  moftly  by  the  cattle  they  graze,  which  are  chiefly 
camels  and  goats,  that  feed  on  fmall  fhrubs.  Thefe,  for  the  moft  part, 
live  on  either  fide  of  the  Delta,  and  are  alfo  much  about  Mecca. 

The  natives  of  Egypt  are  now  a  flothful  people,  and  delight  in  fitting  Cbaraaer 
ftill,  hearing  tales,  and  indeed  feem  always  to  have  been  more  fit  for  tian?yP~ 
the  quiet  life,  than  for  any  active  fcenes :  And  this  idle  manner  of  living 
is  probably  one  great  reafon  of  the  fruitfulnefs  of  their  invention,  with  re- 
gard to  their  antient  Heathen  religion,  and  of  their  making  fo  many  extra- 
vagant fables ;  out  of  which  the  Greeks  might  take  fome  of  the  mod: 
beautiful,  as  a  foundation  for  their  religion  and  poetry,  and  fo  they  paffed 
to  the  Romans.  This  indolence  may  be  owing  to  the  great  heat  of  the 
country,  that  enervates  them,  and  inclines  them  to  the  una&ive  life.  They 
are  alfo  malicious  and  envious  to  a  great  degree,  which  keeps  them  from 


a  TsTO  <Je  tojv  fyiAKpivm  jwaAirw  sra§'  ou/'to~?,  to  TifiVH*,  Kj  T«  9->jAE«  S/Stpvm.  Strabol.  XVli.  p.  824. 
srftkV  T££tpeiv  rot  ymuuiva  &at£ia.     K«*  to  srtfy- 

Vol.  I.  Z  z  uniting 


i78  OBSERVATIONS 

uniting  and  fetting  up  for  themfelves ;  and  though  they  are  very  ignorant, 
yet  they  have  a  natural  cunning  and  artifice  as  well  as  falfhood,  and  this 
makes  them  always  fufpicious  of  travellers,  that  they  want  to  find  trea- 
fures,  and  as  they  fee  they  do  not  actually  find  them,  they  imagine  they 
can  by  magic  art  draw  away  the  money,  which  they  think  may  lie  hid  in 
the  earth,  being  fo  ignorant  that  they  cannot  otherwife  conceive  why  they 
fhould  come  fo  far  to  fee  ruins :  Which  notion  of  theirs  often  occafions  a 
traveller  much  trouble,  and  fometimes  prevents  his  feeing  every  thing  as 
he  would;  they  have,  however,  learnt  from  the  Arabs  hofpitality,  and 
fomething  of  that  ftrict  virtue  of  fidelity,  in  ftanding  by  thofe  that  are 
under  their  protection.  The  people  of  the  country  are  moftly  employ 'd 
in  tilling  the  ground,  which  is  not  attended  with  much  labour;  but  the 
bringing  water  to  it  is  often  very  troublefome.  The  Arabs  love  plunder, 
and  the  roving  fort  of  life  this  difpofition  leads  them  to.  The  bufinefs  of 
attending  cattle  feems  moft  fuited  to  their  genius ;  they  have  good  horfes, 
and  manage  them  and  their  pikes  with  much  addrefs;  thofe  on  foot  ufe 
poles,  with  which  they  fence  off  the  fpear,  with  great  art. 

Turks.  Another  fort  of  people  are  thofe  they  call  Turks,  in  diftindtion  from 

the  natives  of  the  country  and  the  Arabs ;  being  thofe  who  are  fent  by  the 
Grand  Signor,  and  the  Haves,  and  the  governing  part  that  are  taken  from 
among  them,  and  their  defcendants,  and  all  in  general  of  foreign  ex- 
traction ;  thefe  are  moft  covetous  of  money  and  defirous  of  power,  and 
withal  moft  fubtle  and  ingenious  in  carrying  on  any  affair  to  obtain  their 
ends,  moft  furprizing  things  having  been  managed  and  brought  about 
by  them  in  Cairo,  with  the  utmoft  policy  and  fecrecy;  and  thefe  di- 
ftinguifh  themfelves  from  the  others  by  what  is  ftrictly  the  Turkifh  drefs. 

Demflies.  Among  the  Mahometans,  the  Dervifhes  are  a  very  particular  fort  of  peo- 
ple, they  may  be  reckon'd  of  two  or  three  kinds ;  thofe  that  are  in  con- 
vents are  in  a  manner  a  religious  order,  and  live  retired,  though  I  fuppofe 
there  are  of  thefe  who  travel  with  feme  credit,  and  return  to  their  con- 
vents. Some  take  on  them  this  character,  and  live  with  their  families  and 
follow  their  trades;  fuch  are  the  dancing  Dervifhes  at  Damafcus,  who 
come  once  or  twice  a  week  to  the  little  convent  that  is  uninhabited,  and 
perform  their  extraordinary  exercifes;  thefe  alfo  feem  to  be  good  people; 
but  there  is  a  third  fort  that  travel  about  the  country  and  beg,  or  rather 
oblige  every  body  to  give ;  for  when  they  found  their  horn,  reprefented 
at  Z.  in  the  fifty-feventh  plate,  they  muft  be  regarded,  fomething  .muft 
be  given  them,  and  it  is  faid  they  are  very  bad  men  ;  the  two  former,  and 
I  believe  thefe  alfo,  wear  an  octagonal  badge  of  white  alabafter  with  a 
greenifh  caft,  before  on  their  girdles,  reprefented  with  the  horn  at  a.  and 
they  wear  a  high  ftiff  cap  at  O.  in  the  fifty-eighth  plate,  without  any 
thing  round  it.  The  Turcomen  wear  the  fame,  a  little  more  pointed, 
but  with  a  white  fafh  about  it.  In  Egypt  there  are  few,  except  thofe  that 
live  in  convents,  and  of  them  only  one  houfe  near  Cairo. 

Policy.  Having  mention'd  the  refined  policy  or  rather  cunning  of  the  governing 
part  of  the  Egyptians,  I  fhall  give  fome  inftances  of  it:  It  is  chiefly  em- 
ploy'd  in  bringing  about  their  ends  of  deftroying  one  another,  when  they 
are  divided  into  parties;  for  as  there  are  more  factions  in  Egypt  than  in 
other  parts  of  Turkey,  fo  there  are  more  inftances  of  it  here.  The  manner 
in  which  they  pafs  their  time,  without  reading  or  much  bufinefs,  without  any 

curiofity 


ON  EGYPT. 

curiofity  but  what  relates  to  their  affairs,  is  the  great  reafon  of  it;  for 
they  think  much,  and  their  thoughts  are  always  employ 'd  about  their  par- 
ticular interefts.  The  Pafhas  commonly  join  with  that  party  under-hand 
which  they  judge  is  moll  likely  to  get  the  better,  unlefs  when  they  fet  them- 
felves  to  deftroy  the  ftrongeft  party,  which  they  think  may  endanger  the 
Grand  Signor's  government  in  Egypt.  I  fhall  mention  fome  particulars, 
without  inferring  the  feveral  names,  which  would  be  of  very  little  import  to 
the  reader  in  this  place.  Not  many  years  ago,  a  Pafha  being  defirous  to 
take  off  a  Bey,  and  apprehending  that  he  would  refufe  the  coffee  brought  to 
him,  directed  the  Have  that  was  to  bring  the  coffee,  at  the  fame  time  as  an- 
other was  to  bring  the  coffee  to  the  Pafha,  to  make  a  falfe  ftep  and  let 
fall  the  coffee  of  the  Bey,  who  following  the  directions  he  had  received, 
the  Pafha  defired  the  Bey  to  take  his  coffee,  which  being  a  particular  ho- 
nour, the  Bey  could  not  refufe  it;  and  drank  the  coffee  without  fufpicion, 
which  had  poifon  purpofely  put  into  it. 

About  feven  or  eight  years  ago,  a  defign  was  form'd  by  the  weaker  party 
to  deftroy  their  enemies,  who  had  raifed  themfelves  to  a  moft  exorbitant 
degree  of  power :  The  fcheme  had  been  long  laid,  and  above  forty  perfons 
in  the  fecret,  many  of  whom  were  Haves ;  but  an  opportunity  was  wanted, 
as  they  could  not  get  the  perfons  all  together,  againft  whom  it  was  defign'd. 
At  length  the  day  came,  when  all  the  great  perfons  were  together,  and 
the  flaves  bringing  in  the  coffee  or  fhirbet  all  at  the  fame  time,  according  to 
the  ufual  cuftom,  whilft  they  were  drinking  it,  each  Have  drew  out  his 
weapon  and  ftabb'd  his  man;  fome  few  of  them  indeed,  mark'd  out  for 
deftruflion,  got  off  wounded,  without  being  kill'd.  They  took  off  like- 
wife  a  head  of  a  party  by  another,  ftratagem :  It  was  known  that  this  Bey  was 
very  defirous  to  have  one  of  his  enemies  taken;  the  plot  was  therefore  laid 
that  they  fhould  bring  in  a  man  before  the  Bey,  fo  difguifed,  that  he  fhould 
not  diftinguifh  who  he  was,  crying  out,  that  all  his  enemies  might  be  as  that 
man,  taking  care  to  have  the  Bey  inftrudted  whom  they  were  bringing  to  him. 
They  had  the  policy  as  they  pafs'd,  to  draw  out  the  bolt  of  their  particu- 
lar fort  of  locks,  reprefented  at  f.  and  d.  in  the  fifty-feventh  plate,  in  fuch 
manner  as  that  no  body  might  be  able  to  fhut  the  doors  and  lock  them, 
either  after  they  had  done  their  bufinefs,  or  in  cafe  of  any  mifcarriage. 
The  perfon  was  brought  in  with  his  hands  behind  him,  as  if  tied,  and  a 
napkin  put  over  his  head,  as  malefadtors  commonly  have,  and  by  a  per- 
fon dreffed  like  the  patroling  officer  who  takes  up  fuch  people  :  When  he 
was  brought  into  the  room,  the  Bey  alked  which  was  the  fellow,  when 
the  pretended  prifoner  prefented  a  piftol  in  each  hand,  faying  here  he  is, 
and  fliot  the  Bey  dead,  who  was  fitting  on  the  fopha  in  the  corner  of  the 
room,  as  the  great  men  ufually  place  themfelves. 

When  I  was  in  Egypt  a  Pafha  was  named,  who  had  often  conducted 
the  caravan  from  Damafcus  to  Mecca ;  and  having  there  contracted  a  friend- 
fhip  with  a  Bey  of  Egypt,  who  had  the  care  of  the  caravan  from  Grand 
Cairo  ;  it  was  faid,  that  he  had  defired  the  Bey,  in  cafe  he  fhould  ever  be 
appointed  Pafha  of  Egypt,  to  endeavour  to  ufe  all  the  means  he  could  to 
prevent  his  coming,  it  being  a  Pafhalic,  though  of  much  honour,  yet  of 
great  expence  and  little  profit.  It  is  faid,  when  the  Grand  Signor's  order 
was  read  in  the  Divan,  appointing  this  perfon  Pafha,  this  Bey,  his  friend, 
had  contrived  that  they  fhould  ask  who  this  Pafha  was,  if  it  was  fuch  a 

one, 


j8o  observations 

one,  a  man  of  no  family,  a  country  man,  a  Filaw,  and  that  they  would 
not  have  fuch  a  perfon  come  as  their  Palha.  Whether  this  report  was  falfe, 
or  whether  the  ftratagem  did  not  fucceed,  I  cannot  fay,  for  this  Pafha 
came  foon  after,  and  was  depofed  on  this  occafion  :  The  Bey  he  had  con- 
tracted a  friendfhip  with,  was  of  the  faction  that  had  been  almoft  de- 
ftroy'd ;  and  there  was  reafon  to  think  that  the  Pafha  was  in  the  fecret  of 
a  defign  to  cut  off  the  great  men  that  were  uppermoft,  who  were  to  be 
affaffinated  going  to  the  Divan.  To  the  firft  great  man  that  same,  the 
perfons  employed  offer'd  a  petition  as  he  went  along  the  ftreet  on  horfeback, 
and  continued  holding  and  kiffmg  his  hand  whilft  he  was  reading  it,  preffing 
not  to  be  refufed,  who  taking  more  than  ordinary  notice  of  their  earneft- 
nefs,  going  to  withdraw  his  hand,  they  dragged  him  off  his  horfe  and 
murder'd  him.  The  party  that  was  to  have  been  deftroy'd  drew  up  fome 
writing  relating  to  this  affair,  and  carried  it  to  the  Pafha  to  fign  it; 
they  look'd  upon  his  refufal  as  a  proof  that  he  was  at  the  bottom  of  it ; 
it  is  faid  alfo  that  his  Caia  betray 'd  him,  and  therefore  they  immediately 
depofed  him. 

I  fhall  mention  only  one  inftance  more  of  their  policy,  of  a  private 
nature.  A  Mahometan  of  Cairo,  defired  to  borrow  a  considerable  fum 
of  money  of  a  merchant,  who  refufing  to  lend  it,  he  prevail'd  with  his 
friend,  a  Chous  (a  fort  of  meffengers,  as  already  obferved,  who  are  fent 
about  affairs,  and  whofe  character  is  efteemed  very  facred)  to  go  to  the 
houfe  of  the  merchant,  who  coming  to  the  Chous  to  kifs  his  hand,  the 
Chous  took  occafion  to  make  off  his  own  large  cap  as  he  was  coming  in, 
and  immediately  pretended  that  the  merchant  had  beat  it  off ;  upon  which 
he  thought  proper,  not  only  to  advance  the  money,  but  to  give  a  much 
greater  fum  to  compromife  the  affair. 


CHAP.  V. 

Of  the  Education,   Cuftoms,  Drefs,  and  modern  Archi- 
tecture of  Egypt;  and  of  the  Caravan  to  Mecca. 

The  Egypti-  <  ■  » H  E  education  in  Egypt  is  feldom  more  than  to  read  and  write, 
ducattan' E"    J.    which  the  Coptis  generally  learn,  and  their  manner  of  keeping  ac- 
counts ;  but  the  Arabs  and  native  Mahometans  very  rarely  can  read,  ex- 
cept thofe  that  have  been  bred  up  to  the  law,  or  fome  employ.    The  bed 
education  is  among  the  flaves,  who  underftand  Arabic  and  Turkifh,  and 
often  write  both,  and  go  through  their  exercifes  conftantly ;  to  ride,  fhoot, 
and  throw  the  dart  well,  being  efteemed  great  accomplifhments.  The 
Notion  of   kgi;ef  0f  predeftination  is  very  ftongly  rooted  in  them,  efpecially  in  thofe 
tion.        who  are  properly  Turks,  which  often  infpires  them  with  very  great  cou- 
rage, and  quiets  them  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  when  they  are  thrown 
from  the  heighth  of  power  into  the  moft  miferable  condition,  in  which 
circumftances  they  fay,  it  is  the  will  of  God,  and  blefs  God ;  and  indeed 
they  behave  rather  better  in  adverfity  than  profperity;  though  when  they 
are  in  high  ftations,  they  carry  themfelves  with  much  becoming  gravity ; 
and  when  they  do  a  favour,  it  is  with  a  very  gracious  countenance ;  but 


ON   EGYPT.  181 

the  love  of  money  is  fo  rooted  in  them,  that  nothing  is  to  be  done  with^  Avarice, 
out  bribery ;  and  it  is  an  affront  to  come  into  the  prefence  of  a  great  man, 
where  a  favour  is  to  be  asked,  without  a  prefent,  or  having  it  fignified  to 
him  that  fomething  is  dclign'd.  The  fame  notion  of  predeftination  makes 
them  ufe  no  precautions  againft  the  plague;  but  they  even  go  and  help 
to  bury  the  bodies  of  thofe  that  die  of  it,  which  is  reckon'd  a  very  great 
charity,  tho'  it  is  faid  there  is  no  infection  in  a  dead  body. 

They  think  the  greater},  villainies  are  expiated,  when  once  they  Wafh  Devotioa. 
their  hands  and  feet.  This  is  their  preparation  to  go  to  prayers,  which  all 
the  polite  people  conftantly  do  ;  for  the  outward  appearance  of  religion  is 
in  fafhion  among  them,  and  it  is  look'd  on  as  genteel  to  fay  their  prayers 
in  any  place  at  the  ufual  hours.  Their  prayers  are  very  fhort,  and  repeated 
five  times  a  day ;  but  they  may  perform  all  thefe  devotions  at  one  time.  They 
always  pray  on  a  carpet  or  cloth,  to  avoid  touching  any  thing  that  is  un- 
clean. They  pray  in  the  moft  publick  places  wherever  they  are;  and  when 
they  are  in  a  vifit,  will  call  for  water  to  wafh  their  hands  and  feet,  and  fo 
perform  their  devotions.  The  Arabs  that  live  in  tents  are  feldom  feen  to  pray. 

Refignation  to  the  will  of  God,  and  perhaps  no  great  affection  for  their  Manners  and 
relations,  is  the  caufe  that  they  lament  very  little  for  them,  and  foon  for-  culloms' 
get  the  lofs  of  them,  unlefs  it  be  of  their  children;  for  they  are  very 
fond  to  have  children,  and  are  affectionate  towards  them.  Thofe  who  are 
properly  Turks  here  commonly  marry  flaves  of  Circaffia,  Georgia,  and 
other  countries,  who  exceed  the  natives  of  the  country  in  beauty.  Their 
words  pafs  for  nothing,  either  in  relations,  promifes,  or  profeflions  of  . 
friendfhip.  The  ufe  of  Laudanum,  fo  much  in  vogue  formerly,  is  fuc- 
ceeded  by  drinking  chiefly  ftrong  waters,  which  they  take  plentifully  at 
their  meals ;  tho'  a  great  many  will  not  drink,  but  they  ufe  heating  things 
, .  to  chear  them.  The  perfons  who  drink  are  chiefly  the  foldiery  and  great 
men  ;  but  it  would  be  reckon'd  fcandalous  in  people  of  bufinefs.  The 
Arabs  indeed  do  not  drink,  or  very  rarely;  and  the  common  people  pound 
the  leaves  of  green  hemp,  make  a  ball  of  it,  and  fwallow  it  down,  to 
make  them  chearful.  And  a  compofition  is  made  of  the  buds  of  hemp, 
before  they  flower,  which  has  the  fame  intoxicating  quality  as  Laudanum, 
and  is  call'd  Aphioum,  or  Opium,  which  fignifies  any  thing  that  ftupifles 
or  intoxicates.  A  vice  the  Turks  are  remarkable  for,  is  not  practifed  a- 
mong  the  Arabs,  or  true  Egyptians. 

They  have  a  great  notion  of  the  magic  art,  have  books  about  it,  and 
think  there  is  much  virtue  in  talifmans  and  charms ;  but  particularly  are 
ftrongly  poffeffed  with  an  opinion  of  the  evil  eye.  And  when  a  child  is 
commended,  except  you  give  it  fome  bleffing,  if  they  are  not  very  well 
affured  of  your  good  will,  they  ufe  charms  againft  the  evil  eye;  and  par- 
ticularly when  they  think  any  ill  fuccefs  attends  them  on  account  of  an  evil 
eye,  they  throw  fait  into  the  fire. 

The  meaneft  Mahometan  thinks  himfelf  above  any  Chriftian ;  and  where 
there  is  no  dependency,  they  put  themfelves  on  a  rank  with  them,  and  feldom 
preferve  any  tolerable  good  manners,  efpecially  the  Turks.  The  Arabs  and 
people  of  the  country  are  civil  enough,  and  fhew  it  in  their  way,  by 
coming  and  fitting  about  you ;  tho'  they  are  troublefome,  by  being  too  ob- 
ferving,  curious,  and  inquifitive.  The  Turks  alfo  will  be  very  civil,  either 
to  get  prefents,  or  to  find  out  your  defigns  and  inclinations,  in  which  they 
are  very  artful ;  but  where  there  is  any  dependency  among  one  another, 
Vol.  I.  A  a  a  they 


18a  OBSERVATIONS 

they  obferve  a  great  decorum,  all  riling  up  when  a  fuperior  comes  in.  And 
in  a  regular  meeting  in  the  military  Divans,  as  I  have  been  told,  the  infe- 
rior takes  up  the  Papouches  of  the  fuperior,  and  fets  them  by  him,  and 
after  receives  the  fame  regards  from  his  inferior :  And,  as  I  have  been  in- 
form'd,  a  fuperior  of  great  dignity  holds  the  ftirrup  to  a  fuperior  that  is 
ftill  greater,  when  he  mounts ;  as  a  two-tail'd  Vizier  holds  the  ftirrup  to 
one  that  has  three  tails.  The  way  of  faluting  as  you  approach,  or  pafs,  is 
by  ftretching  out  the  right  hand,  and  bringing  it  to  the  breaft,  and  a  little 
inclining  the  head.  The  extraordinary  falute  is  killing  the  hand,  and 
then  putting  it  to  the  head.  And  when  a  vifit  is  paid  to  a  fuperior,  his 
hand  is  kiffed  ;  and  if  he  is  very  much  fuperior,  they  kifs  the  hem  of  the 
garment.  The  Arab  falutation  is  by  joining  hands,  and  often  bowing 
the  head  to  the  fide  of  the  head  of  the  perfon  faluted,  alking  him  how 
he  does,  if  he  is  well,  and  bidding  him  peace  feveral  times.  But  a 
Mahometan  will  not  fay  peace  to  a  Chriftian,  which  is  the  ufual  falute  one 
towards  another.  When  they  take  any  thing  either  from  the  hands  of  a 
fuperior,  or  that  is  fent  from  a  fuperior,  they  kifs  it,  and,  as  the  higheft 
relpedt,  put  it  to  their  foreheads ;  and  if  you  demand  any  thing  that  re- 
lates to  a  fervice  or  prote&ion  of  you,  when  they  promife  it,  they  put 
their  hands  up  to  their  turbants,  as  much  as  to  lay,  Be  it  on  their  heads; 
which  they  alfo  fometimes  fay  ;  for  nothing  can  be  imagined  finer  than 
the  Arab  manner  of  expreffing  civility  or  friendfhip;  and  if  the  news  only 
is  told  of  any  one's  death,  they  always  fay,  May  your  head  be  fafe.  And 
on  fome  particular  occafions,  to  a  great  man  in  times  of  confufion,  when 
any  of  his  enemies  are  taken  or  dead,  they  compliment  him  by  wifhing 
that  all  his  enemies  may  be  as  he  is,  Among  the  Coptis,  in  public  com- 
pany, a  fon  does  not  fit  before  his  father,  or  any  fuperior  relation,  without 
being  order'd  to  fit  more  than  once :  And  there  is  great  reafon  why  fu- 
periors  fhould  keep  inferiors  thus  at  a  diftance,  and  exaft  fo  much  refpedf. 
of  them,  efpecially  with  regard  to  civil  governors ;  as  the  people  are  of 
luch  fiavilh  minds,  that  they  muft  be  kept  under ;  and  if  any  liberty  is 
given,  they  immediately  affume  too  much. 
Turkift  When  the  Turks  eat,  a  little  round  or  o&agon  ftool,  reprefented  at  A.  in 
manner  of  tne  fifty -feventh  plate,  is  fet  on  the  fopha,  on  a  colour'd  cloth  laid  on  the 
" '  ground :  Round  it  they  throw  a  long  cloth,  to  be  put  in  the  laps  of  the 

guefts ;  and  with  thofe  of  condition,  a  napkin  is  given  to  every  one  when 
he  wafhes,  as  they  always  do  before  they  eat.  This  they  likewife  lay  before 
them,  and  wipe  with  it  when  they  wafh  after  dinner.  On  the  ftool  they 
put  a  copper  difh  tinned  over,  from  three  to  fix  feet  diameter,  which  is 
as  a  table;  all  their  difhes  and  veffels  being  copper  tinned  over,  infide  and 
out.  Round  this  difh  they  put  bread,  fmall  difhes  of  pickles,  falads,  and  the 
like  ;  and  then  they  bring  two  or  three  large  difhes,  in  two  or  three  courfes, 
as  reprefented  at  B.  None  but  the  common  people  eat  beef,  and  the  flefh 
of  the  Buffalo,  as  they  have  a  notion  that  'tis  not  eafy  of  digefiion.  It  is 
faid  in  the  hot  Hamfeen  feafon  in  the  month  of  April  and  May,  they  eat, 
for  the  moft  part,  nothing  but  difhes  made  of  pulfe  and  herbs,  and  alfo 
fifh,  as  being  eafier  of  digeftion  ;  the  great  heats  taking  away  their  appe- 
tite for  all  forts  of  meat.  The  Coptis,  as  well  as  the  Turks,  abftain  from 
fwines  flefh.  The  moll  vulgar  people  make  a  fort  of  beer  of  barley,  with- 
out being  malted ;  and  they  put  fomething  in  it  to  make  it  intoxicate, 


ON    EGYPT.  183 

and  call  it  Bouzy:  They  make  it  ferment;  'tis  thick  and  four,  and  will 
not  keep  longer  than  three  or  four  days.    It  appears  from  Herodotus,  that 
the  Egyptians  ufed  fome  fort  of  beer  in  his  time,  which  he  calls  wine  made 
of  barley  *.    If  they  do  not  drink  wine,  they  feldom  drink  whilft  they 
are  eating.    They  either  fit  crofs-legged,  or  kneel,  and  make  ufe  only  of 
the  right  hand,  not  tiling  knives  or  forks,  but  tear  the  meat  with  the  hand ; 
and  the  mafter  of  the  houfe  often  takes  pieces  in  his  hand,  and  throws 
them  to  the  guefls,  that  he  would  pay  an  extraordinary  compliment  to. 
Immediately  after  eating,  coffee  is  brought.    This  is  the  Turkifh  manner  ; 
their  difhes  confifting  of  Pilaw,  foups,  Dulma,  which  is  any  vegetable  fluf- 
fed with  forced  meat ;  as  cucumbers,  onions,  cawl  leaves ;  ftew'd  difhes, 
fweet  ragoos,  pieces  of  meat  cut  fmall  and  roafted,  and  feveral  other 
things.  All  is  taken  out  and  eaten  by  the  inferior  fervants ;  not  by  the  flaves, 
who  have  a  dinner  prepared  for  them  of  more  ordinary  difhes,  in  another 
room.    With  the  Arabs  and  people  of  the  country,  either  a  round  fkin  isArabmai^ 
laid  on  the  ground  for  a  fmall  company,  or  large  coarfe  woollen  cloths  for  a  ncr' 
great  number,  fpread  all  over  the  room,  and  about  ten  difhes  repeated  fix 
or  feven  times  over,  laid  round  at  a  great  feaff,  and  whole  fheep  and  lambs 
boil'd  and  roafted  in  the  middle.    When  one  company  has  done,  another 
fits  round,  even  to  the  meaneft,  till  all  is  confumed.    And  an  Arab  Prince 
will  often  dine  in  the  ftreet,  before  his  door,  and  call  to  all  that  pafs,  even 
beggars,  in  the  ufual  expreffion,  Bifimillah,  that  is,  In  the  name  of  God  j 
who  come  and  fit  down,  and  when  they  have  done,  give  their  Hamdelli- 
lah,  that  is,  God  be  praifed.    For  the  Arabs  are  great  levellers,  put  every 
body  on  a  footing  with  them  ;  and  it  is  by  fuch  generofity  and  hofpitality 
that  they  maintain  their  intereft ;  but  the  middling  people  among  them, 
and  the  Coptis,  live  but  poorly.    I  have  often  fat  down  with  them,  only 
to  bread,  raw  onions,  and  a  feed  pounded  and  put  in  oil,  which  they  call 
Serich,  produced  by  an  herb  call'd  Simfim,  into  which  they  dip  their  bread, 
that  is  made  as  often  as  they  eat,  in  very  thin  cakes,  baked  on  an  iron 
plate  heated.    They  have  a  very  good  difh  for  one  who  has  a  good  appe- 
tite, which  is  thefe  cakes  broken  all  to  pieces,  and  mix'd  with  a  fort  of 
fyrup  made  of  the  fugar  cane  when  it  is  green.    This  cane  is  a  great  de- 
fert  with  them,  by  fucking  the  fweet  juice  out  of  it.    They  alfo  eat  a 
four  milk  turn'd  with  feeds.    They  have  a  difh  among  the  Moors  call'd 
Cufcafow,  which  is  made  with  flower  temper'd  with  water,  and  rolled  in  the 
hands  into  fmall  pieces,  and  being  put  in  a  cullender,  over  a  boiling  pot 
flopped  clofe  round,  it  is  dreffed  with  the  fleam,  and  then  they  put  butter 
to  it.    They  alfo  fometimes  drefs  dates  with  butter.    Their  great  meal  is 
generally  at  night,  taking  a  light  collation  in  the  morning  of  fried  eggs* 
cheefe,  and,  at  great  tables,  olives  and  honey.     And  this  is  alfo  ufual 
with  the  Turks,  efpecially  if  they  go  out  to  do  bufinefs,  or  for  diverfion, 
to  flay  abroad  moft  part  of  the  day,  otherwife  they  dine  rather  before 
noon,  and  fup  early  in  the  evening.    They  probably  chufe  to  eat  early  in 
the  morning,  before  the  heat  takes  away  their  appetite ;  and  eat  again 
foon  in  the  evening,  when  it  begins  to  be  cool.     When  they  have  no 
company,  they  commonly  go  into  the  Harem,  or  womens  apartments,  at 
the  time  of  eating,  to  a  wife,  in  her  feparate  apartment,  who  either  prepares 


*  "Oivw  f  £«  mnaniptvu  Sta^tufioit.  Herodotus  ii.  c.  77. 


the 


OBSERVATIONS 

the  dinner,  or  infpefts  and  directs  it,  though  they  are  great  perfons,  hav- 
ing their  offices  adjoining  to  their  rooms.     And  a  great  man  who  has  four 
wives,  has  five  kitchens,  one  for  each  of  them,  managed  by  their  flaves 
or  fervants ;  and  one  great  one  for  public  entertainments  for  the  mafter, 
when  he  dines  out  of  the  Harem,  and  for  the  flaves  and  fervants.    At  a 
Turkifh  vifit,  a  pipe  is  immediately  brought,  and  coffee;  and  if  it  is  a 
vifit  of  ceremony,  fweet-meats,  with  the  coffee ;  and  afterwards  a  fherbet ; 
and  then,  according  to  the  dignity  of  the  perfon,  incenfe  and  rofe  water 
to  perfume,  which  is  a  genteel  way  of  difmiffing  the  company.  Friends 
who  vifit,   efpecially  women,  flay  a  night  or  two,  or  more,  carrying  their 
beds  with  them,  tho'  in  the  fame  town ;  and  coffee,  or  a  fweet  water  boil'd 
on  cinnamon,  are  brought  at  leaft  once  in  an  hour.    And  I  have  been  told 
that  it  is  a  mark  of  great  refpeft  among  them,  often  to  change  their  gar- 
ments during  the  vifit.    If  any  one  goes  to  the  houfe  of  an  Arab,  or  to  his 
tent,  bread  is  immediately  made,  and  they  ferve  four  milk  and  cucum- 
bers in  it  when  in  feafon,  fried  eggs,  and  oil  to  dip  the  bread  in,  a  fait 
cheefe  like  curds,  and  fuch  like.    They  do  not  take  it  well  if  you  do  not 
ftay  and  eat,  and  think  it  fuch  a  favour  to  come  to  their  houfes,  and  put 
yourfelf,  as  it  were,  under  their  protection,  that  where  there  have  been  any 
enmities,  if  one  goes  to  the  other's  houfe  and  eats  with  him,  all  is  forgot. 
And  I  have  feen  them  fometimes  fhew  refentment  by  refufing  to  take  cof- 
fee, or  any  thing  offer'd  ;  like  the  janizaries,  who  when  they  mutiny,  will 
not  eat  the  Grand  Signor's  Pilaw  ;  but  if  preffed  to  eat,  and  they  comply, 
it  is  a  fign  the  refentment  is  paft.    They  generally  rife  early,  at  break  of 
day,  and  often  go  at  that  time  to  the  Mofques,  the  common  people  at  leaft; 
thence  they  refort  to  the  coffee-houfes,  and  having  taken  their  collations,  go 
pretty  late  to  their  fhops,  and  fhut  them  about  four  in  the  afternoon.  The 
great  people  either  vifit  or  are  vifited.    In  Cairo,  on  fundays,  tuefdays, 
and  thurfdays,  they  go  to  the  Pafha's  Divan ;  and  thefe  are  the  general 
days  of  bufinefs.    Fridays  they  ftay  at  home,  and  go  to  their  Mofques  at 
noon;  and  though,  with  them,  it  is  their  day  of  devotion,  yet  they  never 
abftain  from  their  bufinefs.    The  three  other  days  of  the  week  they  call 
Benifh  days,  from  the  garment  of  that  name,  which  is  not  a  habit  of  ce- 
remony.   They  then  go  out  early  in  the  morning  with  their  flaves,  to  pub- 
lic places  out  of  town,  commonly  call'd  Meidans,  or  Places,  where  they 
have  a  fort  of  open  fummer-houfes,  and  fee  their  flaves  ride,  fhoot,  and 
throw  the  dart,  and  regale  themfelves  with  their  pipe  and  coffee.  Few 
of  them,  except  thofe  of  the  law  or  church,  ever  read  in  books,  but  have 
generally  company  with  them ;  and  as  they  have  time  to  think  much,  that 
is  one  very  great  caufe  of  their  refined  policy,  in  many  refpedls.  When 
they  are  at  home,  they  ftay  from  twelve  to  four  in  the  womens  apartment, 
and  from  the  time  they  go  to  fupper,  till  the  next  morning  ;  and  when 
they  are  there,  it  muft  be  bufinefs  of  very  extraordinary  importance,  if 
they  are  call'd  out,  efpecially  if  they  are  great  men.    It  is  the  cuftom  in 
moft  parts  of  Turkey,  if  not  every  where,  for  the  men  to  eat  by  themfelves, 
even  in  the  womens  apartments;  the  wife  having  her  provifions  ferved, 
perhaps  at  the  fame  time,  in  another  room.    The  month  of  failing  of  the 
Mahometans,  call'd  Ramefan,  as  I  have  already  obferved,  is  very  fevere; 
and  when  it  happens  in  the  fummer,  it  is  very  hard  on  the  labourers,  who 
cannot  drink,  being  only  allow'd  to  walh  their  mouths.     As  this  month, 

r  'n 
J 


ON    EGYPT.  I8j 

in  thirty- three  years  is  in  all  feafons  of  the  year.  TheTurkifh  month  being  Calculation 
lunar,  they  begin  it  the  day  they  can  fee  the  moon ;  whereas  the  Jews  be- 
gin it  the  day  the  moon  makes,  which  is  a  day  before  the  Turks.  The 
Coptick  month  is  thirty  days,  and  every  year  they  have  five  intercalary 
days,  and  every  fourth  year  fix ;  their  iEra  begins  three  hundred  and  two 
years  after  Chrift,  from  the  martyrdom  of  the  faints  in  Egypt,  under  Di- 
ocletian. One  of  the  greateft  refrefhments  among  the  Turks,  as  1  have 
obferved  before,  is  going  to  the  bagnios;  in  the  firft  large  room,  generally  Bathing, 
covered  with  a  cupola,  they  undrefs,  and  putting  on  thofe  wooden  pat- 
tins,  which  they  ufe  alfo  in  their  houfes,  and  are  reprefented  at  +.  in  the 
fifty- eighth  plate,  they  go  into  the  hot  room,  where  they  are  wafh'd  and 
rubb'd  with  brufhes  and  hair  cloths ;  they  rub  the  feet  with  a  fort  of  grater> 
made  of  earthen  ware,  fomething  refembling  the  body  of  a  bird,  which  may 
be  feen  at  F.  in  the  fifty-feventh  plate,  they  then  make  all  the  joints  fnap, 
even  the  very  neck,  and  all  down  the  back,  which  they  think  makes  the 
joints  fupple ;  after  this  they  are  fhaved,  and  go  into  the  bath ;  from  this  place 
they  return  by  a  room  not  fo  hot,  where  they  ftay  a  while;  and  from  thence 
go  into  the  great  room,  repofe  on  a  bed,  fmoke  their  pipe,  take  their  cof- 
fee, and  drefs.  The  eafterns  love  their  eafe  very  much  ;  fome  of  them 
will  fit  all  day  long  in  their  coffee-houfes,  and  confiderable  perfons  will 
go  and  fit  in  the  fhops  of  the  great  merchants  for  two  or  three  hours,  and 
take  thofe  refrefhments  of  tobacco  and  coffee  they  fo  much  delight  in. 
When  they  travel,  they  always  walk  their  horfes,  let  out  pretty  early,  and  ^"jj"  cf 
often  repofe  in  the  way,  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  fmoak  and  take  coffee,  m°  '  B 
efpecially  when  it  is  hot,  when  they  ftop  frequently  in  the  fhade ;  thofe  who 
do  not  travel  in  great  fiate,  have  a  leathern  bottle  of  water,  reprefented  atQ^ 
in  the  fifty-feventh  plate,  hanging  to  their  own  faddle,  or  their  fervant's,  to 
drink  whenever  they  are  thirfty ;  the  great  men  have  a  horfe  or  camel  loaded 
with  (kins  of  water ;  but  if  they  go  fhort  journeys,  they  have  fuch  large  ones 
as  are  reprefented  at  a.  in  the  fifty-eighth  plate,  in  which  they  carry  water 
from  the  river  in  Cairo,  and  from  the  cifterns  in  Alexandria;  or  if  they  go 
long  journeys,  they  have  fuch  as  are  reprefented  at  c.  which  they  ufe  in  the 
journey  to  Mecca;  and  very  great  people  have  a  fervant  that  carries  fuch  a 
vafe  of  water,  as  is  feen  at  D.  in  the  fifty-feventh  plate,  in  a  balket  made  of 
a  fort  of  net  work,  as  at  E.  to  be  always  ready  whenever  the  water  is  wanted. 
By  night  they  rarely  make  ufe  of  tents,  but  lie  in  the  open  air,  having 
large  lanthorns,  made  like  a  pocket  paper  lanthorn,  the  bottom  and  top 
being  of  copper,  tinned  over,  and  inftead  of  paper  they  are  made  with 
linen,  which  is  extended  by  hoops  of  wire,  fo  that  when  it  is  put  together, 
it  ferves  as  a  candleftick,  as  at  V.  and  they  have  a  contrivance  to  hang  it  up 
abroad,  by  means  of  three  ftaves,  in  the  manner  that  large  fcales  are  hung, 
in  order  to  weigh,  as  reprefented  at  T.  They  commonly  lie  only  on  car- 
pets. All  their  kitchen  utenfils  they  carry  with  them,  which  in  the 
train  of  a  great  man  load  two  or  three  camels ;  but  the  Arabs  put  fuch 
a  veffel  as  is  reprefented  at  k.  into  the  basket  i.  made  of  palm  leaves, 
and  within  it  they  put  fmaller  veffels,  and  feveral  other  utenfils,  and 
carry  them  with  great  conveniency  tied  to  their  camels.  All  their  veffels 
for  dreffing  are  in  that  manner,  fo  that  the  top  often  ferves  them  for  a 
difh ;  and  all  thefe  things  are  of  copper,  tinned  over  infide  and  out;  thefe 
and  the  wooden  bowl,  which  ferves  as  a  large  difh,  and  in  which  they 
Vol.  I.  B  b  b  iiiakg 


1 86  OBSERVATION  S 

make  their  bread,  are  all  the  kitchen  furniture  of  an  Arab,  even  where  lie 
is  fettled.  The  round  leathern  cover  laid  on  the  ground,  is  /hewn  at  C. 
it  has  rings  round  it,  by  which  it  is  drawn  together,  with  a  chain  that 
has  a  hook  to  it,  to  hang  it  by,  either  to  the  fide  of  the  camel  or  in  the 
lioufe,  this  draws  it  together,  and  fometimes  they  carry  in  it  the  meal 
made  into  dough  ;  in  this  manner  they  bring  it  full  of  bread,  and  when  the 
repaft  is  over,  carry  it  away  at  once,  with  all  that  is  left,  in  the  fame 
manner.  It  is  reprefented  here  as  the  larger  fort  are  made,  only  with  a 
leathern  thong  round  the  rings.  They  leaven  their  bread  by  putting  in 
a  piece  of  the  laft  dough  they  made,  which  they  always  lay  by,  and 
becoming  four,  it  caufes  a  fermentation  in  it,  and  makes  the  bread  light. 
The  other  things  reprefented  in  the  fifty-feventh  plate  may  be  feen  be- 
low b. 

When  the  caravans  go  to  Mecca,  fome  women  of  condition  ride  in  tarta- 


Caravan  to 
Mecca. 


b  X.  A  collar  of  filver  wire,  worn  by  the 
youths  in  Syria,  about  their  necks,  which  are 
bare. 

1.  Turkifh  beads  -,  thofe  who  pretend  extraor- 
dinary religion  ufe  fuch  as  are  larger,  and  have  a 
greater  number  of  beads,  efpecially  mad  people 
and  fools. 

W.  The  mufical  inftrument  called  Nakous, 
made  like  two  plates  of  brafs ;  they  are  of  diffe- 
rent fizes,  from  two  inches  to  a  foot  diameter ; 
holding  them  by  the  firings,  they  beat  them  to- 
gether, as  to  beat  the  time,  and  probably  that 
might  be  the  original  of  them  :  They  are  ufed 
both  in  the  Coptic  churches,  and  alfo  in  the  Ma- 
hometan proceflions. 

b.  The  long  Turkifh  pipe,  the  tube  being  of 
wood  or  reed,  the  bowl  of  earthen  ware ;  for 
travelling  they  have  them  made  in  two  or  three 
joints,  to  put  into  a  bag ;  they  cover  the  tube 
fometimes  with  cloth,  and  dip  it  in  water  to 
make  it  fmoak  cool. 

c.  A  Turkifh  letter  put  into  a  fattin  bag,  to 
be  fent  to  a  great  man,  with  a  paper  tied  to 
it  directed  and  fealed,  and  an  ivory  button  tied 
on  the  wax.  As  the  Turks  rarely  write,  the  name 
is  writ  for  them,  and  on  the  backfide  of  it  they 
make  the  impreffion  of  their  name  with  their 
feal,  generally  of  cornelian,  which  they  wear  on 
their  finger,  and  it  is  blacked,  when  there  is  oc- 
cafion  to  feal  with  it. 

d.  and  f.  Are  an  Egyptian  wooden  lock:  It  is 
nailed  on  to  the  door  poft,  and  has  in  it  certain 
holes  at  g.  d.  is  faflened  to  the  door,  and  at  e. 
are  wires,  fo  placed  in  holes  correfponding  to  the 
holes  in  f.  as  that  falling  down  they  go  into  the 
holes  at  g.  and  the  door  is  locked  ;  there  is  a  hole 
for  the  key  h.  to  go  into  it,  which  having  wires 
fixed  to  it,  fo  as  to  go  into  the  holes  at  g.  they 
thruft  up  the  wires  at  e.  and  the  door  is  unlock'd 
and  may  be  opened. 

q.  A  vafe  made  of  fkin  or  bladder,  with 
which  they  pour  oil  into  their  lamps. 

r.  An  inftrument  of  defence  they  have  in  their 
villages. 

z.  A  vafe  made  of  leather,  round  a  wooden 
frame  with  a  ftopper  of  wood  x.  over  which  they 
tie  the  leather  ;  in  thefe  they  bring  the  balfam 
from  Mecca,  and  when  they  travel,  they  carry 
in  them  the  butter  called  Mantecu,  which  being 


oiled  over  the  fire,  and  falted,  is  kept  in  thefe 
vafes,  but  h  very  difagreeable. 

A  bottle  of  leather,  which  they  hang  011 
the  fide  of  their  camels,  or  is  carried  by  the  fer- 
vant,  to  drink  out  of  when  they  travel ;  they 
are  of  a  workmanlhip  they  much  excel  in  atCon- 
ftantinople,  and  are  often  adorned  with  flowers, 
made  with  a  fort  of  very  fine  brafs  wire;  they 
take  out  the  large  ftopper  to  put  in  the  water, 
at  the  top  of  which  there  is  a  fmall  hole  with  a 
peg  to  it,  out  of  which  they  drink. 

P.  Is  a  copper  tinn'd  veffel,  they  ufe  for  wa- 
ter to  wafh  the  hands,  held  over  a  large  difli. 

N.  is  of  earthen  ware,  and  ferves  for  the  fame 
ufe  among  the  poor  people ;  and  both  of  them 
for  a  more  private  ufe. 

R.  Is  the  China  vafe,  to  fprinkle  rofe  water 
on  the  guefts  at  their  departure,  having  a  filver 
top,  with  holes  made  through  it. 

S.  Is  the  incenfepot,  with  which  they  incenfe 
the  company,  being  fometimes  of  a  ware  like  that 
of  Delft,  fome  have  them  of  brafs ;  I  have  feen 
them  among  the  Chriftians  of  filver,  of  very  fine 
workmanlhip. 

0.  Is  a  cafe  to  put  their  coffee  difhes  in  when 
they  travel. 

L.  Is  an  inkhorn,  which  the  writers  and  tradef- 
men  flick  into  their  girdle,  and  is  very  conve- 
nient, the  top  fhutting  down;  at  the  end  it  opens, 
and  pens  and  a  penknife  M.  are  put  into  it. 

1.  A  vafe  of  Cairo,  called  a  Burdack,  out  of 
which  they  commonly  drink;  a  ftrainer  is  made 
in  it  to  hinder  any  thing  from  falling  into  the 
water ;  they  are  made  of  a  fait  earth  that  cools 
the  water,  and  being  fet  out  in  the  air  to  the 
north,  the  water  always  drinks  cool.  They  are 
porous,  and  the  water  in  about  two  days,  or  lefs, 
would  pafs  through  them. 

K,  Is  a  coffee  pot  of  copper,  tinned  over. 

G.  Is  the  pointed  knife  and  (heath  they  flick 
in  their  girdle;  the  fheaths  are  commonly  of 
fome  metal  lined  with  wood,  fome  are  made  very 
fine  of  filver  gilt. 

F.  Is  made  of  leather,  with  a  rim  round  in  the 
middle,  it  is  placed  on  the  fophas  under  the  pipe, 
to  prevent  the  burning  of  the  carpet. 

H.  is  the  unleavened  bread  of  the  Coptis,  for 
the  eucharift,  made  in  a  mould,  with  a  Coptic 
infeription  round  ic. 


vans 


ON  EGYPT. 


i 


Vans  of  litters  carried  by  camels,  as  reprefented  in  the  fifty-eighth  plate,  the 
labour  of  the  camel  that  goes  behind  being  very  great,  as  his  head  is  under 
the  litter.    Some  go  in  a  fmaller  fort,  on  the  back  of  one  camel,  as  may  be 
feen  at  b.    People  of  condition  ride  on  a  faddled  camel,  as  it  is  reprefented 
at  d.  Inferior  perfons  ride  on  camels  loaded  with  their  carpets  and  bed,  if 
they  have  any,  and  other  neceffaries;  they  commonly  have  a  double  crook  e. 
in  their  hands,  to  dire£t  the  camel  by  touching  his  head,  and  alfo  to  recover 
their  bridle,  if  it  happens  to  drop,  and  to  ftrike  the  beaft  to  make  him  go  on. 
The  moll  extraordinary  way  of  conveyance  is  a  fort  of  round  basket  on 
each  fide  of  the  camel,  with  a  cover  made  at  top,  as  may  be  feen  at  f. 
there  is  a  cover  over  the  lower  part,  which  holds  all  their  neceffaries,  and 
the  perfon  fits  crofs-legged  on  it.   They  have  alfo  in  the  fame  manner, 
fomething  like  the  body  of  an  uncovered  chaife  or  chair,  which  is  more 
convenient,  as  they  can  fit  and  extend  their  legs,  if  there  is  only  one  in 
it ;  for  I  think  two  can  fit  in  thefe  on  each  fide.    The  pilgrims  to  Mecca 
commonly  go  in  a  fort  of  black  cloak,  with  acoul;  the  people  of  Barbary 
wear  them  white :  It  is  fattened  about  the  neck  with  a  long  loop,  and 
the  cloak  commonly  hangs  behind.    Having  mentioned  the  caravan  to 
Mecca,  I  fhall  give  fome  account  of  it.  There  is  a  tradition,  that  there 
was  a  great  pilgrimage  to  thofe  parts  (before  the  eftablifhment  of  the  Ma- 
hometan religion)  to  Abraham's  tomb,  as  they  call  it,  and  the  place  where 
they  fay  he  offered  up  his  fon  Ifaac ;  but  the  Jews  fay  that  it  is  the  place 
to  which  Abraham  came  to  fee  Ifhmael.    The  great  ceremonies  of  the 
pilgrims  now  confift  in  carrying  the  coverings  of  the  mofques,  and  of  the 
tombs  of  Abraham  and  Mahomet,  moft  of  which  are  a  fort  of  black 
damask,  richly  embroidered  with  gold ;  every  thing  relating  to  it  being 
manufactured  by  people  employed  entirely  about  it  in  the  caftle  of  Cairo. 
The  firft  proceffion  is  the  carrying  of  thefe  things  from  the  caftle  to  the 
mofque  Haffanine,  on  the  third  day  after  the  feaft  of  Biram,  which  fuc- 
ceeds  their  great  faft ;  all  the  Sheiks  of  the  mofques,  and  the  feveral 
companies  of  different  trades  go  to  the  caftle  in  proceffion  with  their 
colours.    The  ftandards  of  Mecca  were  firft  brought  rolled  up;  then  the 
people  carried  along  part  of  the  hangings  of  the  houfe  of  Mecca,  folded 
together;  and  fo  feveral  pieces  of  it,  about  half  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
one  after  another ;  the  people  crowded  to  touch  them,  kiffmg  their  hands, 
and  putting  them  to  their  heads:  Some  carried  nothing  but  the  fine  ropes 
that  were  to  tie  them  up.    Several  focieties  came  with  ftandards  difplay'd, 
fome  of  them  with  mufic,  others  dancing ;  fome  either  mad,  or  feem- 
ingly  in  a  fort  of  religious  extafy,  throwing  about  their  heads  and  hands; 
fome  naked  to  their  drawers,  others  panting  moft  violently,  as  people 
out  of  breath;  then  came  the  covering  of  the  tomb  of  Mahomet  cal- 
led Mahmel,  made  in  the  fhape  of  a  pyramid,  with  a  fquare  bafe,  and 
richly  embroider'd  with  gold,  on  a  ground  of  green  and  red  ;  a  view  of 
the  houfe  of  Mecca  was  embroidered  on  it,  with  a  portico  round  it;  it 
was  carried  on  a  camel  that  was  all  over  painted  yellow,  with  the  powder 
they  call  Henna ;  and  it  is  faid  they  are  camels  bred  on  purpofe  for  this 
bufinefs,  and  never  employed  about  any  thing  elfe,  being  efteem'd  facred  ; 
and  1  have  been  told,  that  in  their  religious  madnefs  they  take  oft"  the 
froth  that  comes  from  the  camel's  mouth.  The  beaft  is  covered  almoft  all 
over  with  rich  brocades  and  embroideries;  it  was  follow'd  by  three  others 

adorn'd 


188  OBSERVATIONS 

adorn'd  in  the  fame  manner,  and  fix  more  not  altogether  fo  fine,  all 
mounted  by  boys.  Soon  after  came  the  cover  of  Abraham's  tomb,  like  a 
cheft;  this  was  alfo  embroidered  with  gold,  and  it  is  faid  that  it  is  by 
fome  means  fufpended  in  the  air  over  the  place,  where  they  fay  Abra- 
ham offered  his  facrifice.  Then  follow'd  the  body  of  the  Chaoufes,  and  a 
great  officer  of  the  Pafhas,  and  after  him  the  fuperintendant  of  the  ward- 
robe (Nadir-il-Kifve)  who  has  the  care  of  all  the  work,  and  of  the  eftate 
which  the  Califs  of  Egypt  appropriated  for  the  expence  of  it ;  the  trappings 
of  his  horfe  were  very  fine,  the  houfing  being  of  a  flower'd  tiffue.  Af- 
ter him  came  the  janizaries,  and  fome  officers  of  the  Pafha,  and  Iaft  of 
all,  the  very  rich  covering  of  the  door  of  the  houfeof  Mecca,  called  Bur- 
ca,  it  is  ten  feet  long  and  five  wide,  on  which  are  feveral  figures  and  A- 
rabic  letters,  moft  richly  embroider'd  in  gold,  on  a  ground  of  red  and 
green,  being  often  made  to  flop  that  the  people  might  touch  it. 

But  the  grand  proceffion  is  that  of  the  caravan  going  out  to  Mecca. 
The  order  of  this  proceffion  may  be  feen  in  the  laft  book,  as  well  as  I 
could  take  an  account  of  it  when  it  paffed.  All  the  camels  in  this  proceffion 
were  painted  yellow,  and  had  fome  ornaments  on  them,  efpecially  the 
firft  of  every  company  had  on  its  head  and  nofe  a  fine  plume  of  red 
oftrich  feathers,  and  a  fmall  flag  on  each  fide,  the  ftaff  of  which  is  crowned 
likewife  with  oftrich  feathers,  and  the  trappings  adorn'd  with  fhells  ,•  the 
fecond  and  third  had  a  bell  on  each  fide  about  a  foot  long,  and  all  of 
them  fome  ornaments.  Under  the  faddle  of  each  of  them  was  a  coarfe 
carpet  to  cover  them  by  night.  As  foon  as  they  are  out  of  town, 
they  go  without  any  order  to  Sibil-allam,  three  or  four  miles  off,  where 
they  encamp  for  three  days ;  afterwards  they  encamp  at  the  lake ;  the  E- 
mir  Hadge  not  returning  to  town.  The  encampment  at  the  lake  is  very 
fine,  all  the  great  men  pitching  their  tents  and  flaying  there,  and  pall- 
ing the  time  in  feafting,  the  whole  city  pouring  out  to  fee  this  ex- 
traordinary fight,  and  to  join  in  keeping  the  feftival ;  in  the  evenings 
they  have  bonfires  and  fireworks.  It  is  faid  forty  thoufand  people  go  in 
this  caravan;  they  begin  their  journey  in  a  week  after  the  proceffion. 
There  is  a  flory  among  the  people,  that  thofe  of  Barbary  are  obliged  to 
be  a  day  behind  the  others  when  they  arrive  at  Mecca,  and  to  leave  it  a 
day  before  them,  on  account  of  a  prophecy  they  talk  of,  that  thofe  peo- 
ple fhall  one  time  or  other  take  the  country  of  Mecca.  A  great  trade  is 
carried  on  by  the  caravan,  as  they  always  return  laden  with  the  rich  goods 
of  Perfia  and  India,  brought  to  Geda  on  the  Red  fea  near  Mecca.  An- 
other caravan  fets  out  from  Damafcus,  and,  if  I  miftake  not,  carries  the 
fame  prefentsj  and  the  old  hangings,  which  1  think  belong  to  the  Emir 
Hadge,  are  cut  in  pieces,  and  given  about  among  the  great  people,  as  the 
moft  facred  relick.  It  is  looked  upon  almoft  as  an  indifpenfable  duty  to 
go  once  to  Mecca ;  and  thofe  that  cannot  go,  it  is  faid,  think  they  merit 
by  bearing  the  charges  of  another  perfon  to  go  in  their  places.  There  are 
many  that  make  this  journey  often,  but  there  is  an  obfervation,  that  the 
people  are  rather  worfe  after  making  this  pilgrimage  than  they  were  be- 
fore ;  and  there  is  a  faying,  "  If  a  man  has  been  once  at  Mecca,  take 
"  care  of  him;  if  he  has  been  twice  there,  have  nothing  to  do  with 
"  him;  and  if  he  has  been  three  times  at  Mecca,  remove  out  of  his 
"  neighbourhood;"  but  this  is  not  to  be  thought  an  obfervation  of  the  Maho- 
metans 


ON    EGYPT.  189 

mctans,  but  is  only  remark'd  by  the  Chriftians  and  Jews.  The  jour- 
ney to  Mecca  and  back  again,  takes  them  up  a  hundred  days.  The  ca- 
ravan of  Damafcus  fets  out  on  the  fame  day,  and  on  the  twenty-feventh 
day  they  meet  at  Bedder.  They  ftay  three  days  at  Mecca,  and  then  go  to 
Mount  Arrafat,  about  fix  hours  from  Mecca ;  where  they  pay  their  devo- 
tions, on  account  of  the  hiftory  they  have  of  Abraham.  They  ftay  there 
two  days,  then  they  go  two  hours  and  a  half  to  Munna,  where  they  ftay 
three  days,  and  keep  the  feaft  of  Corban  Biram,  or  The  feaft  of  the  facri- 
fice :  They  then  return  to  Mecca,  the  place  of  Mahomet's  nativity.  The 
regular  time  to  ftay  there  is  twelve  days ;  but  if  the  merchants  cannot  fi- 
nifli  their  bufinefs,  by  making  a  prefent  to  the  Emir  Hadge,  they  may  ob- 
tain leave  to  ftay  two  or  three  days  longer  ;  and  may  gain  that  time  by 
not  tarrying  fo  long  as  they  would  do  otherwife  at  fome  places  on  their  re- 
turn. From  Mecca  they  return  fix  days  journey  to  Bedder,  from  which 
place  they  go  in  three  days  to  Medina,  to  the  fepulchre  of  Mahomet ; 
where  the  firft  Califs  refided,  until  they  went  to  Damafcus.  There  they 
ftay  three  davs,  and  return  by  another  road  to  Yembo,  and  fo  back  to 
Cairo.  The  account  of  their  rout  may  be  feen  in  the  Iaft  book,  which  I 
had  from  the  mouth  of  one  who  had  been  fourteen  times  at  Mecca. 

The  moft  fimple  drefs  in  Egypt,  refembles  probably  the  primitive  man-Egyptiaq 
ner  of  clothing  ;  for  it  is  only  a  long  fhirt  A.  in  the  fifty-eighth  plate/"*' 
which  has  wide  fleeves.  It  is  commonly  tied  about  the  middle ;  and  many 
children  in  the  country  go  naked  all  the  year  round,  as  moft  of  them  do 
in  the  fummer.  The  common  people  wear  over  this  a  brown  woollen 
fhirt,  and  thofe  of  better  condition  have  a  long  cloth  coat  over  it,  and 
then  a  long  blue  fhirt ;  and  the  drefs  of  ceremony  over  this,  inftead  of  blue, 
is  a  white  fhirt,  which  they  put  on  upon  feftival  days,  and  to  pay  great  vifits 
in  upper  Egypt ;  but  in  the  lower  parts  they  ufe  a  fhirt  or  garment  made  like 
it,  of  black  woollen,  which  is  fometimes  by  the  more  genteel  left  open  before, 
and  then  is  properly  what  they  call  a  Ferijee  ;  and  fome  of  the  firft  con- 
dition have  them  of  cloth,  and  furred,  the  Arabs  and  natives  wearing  their 
cloaths  with  large  fleeves,  like  the  drefs  of  ceremony  of  the  Turks,  call'd 
the  Ferijee,  made  like  a  night-gown  ;  the  other  drefs  of  the  Turks  being 
with  ftreight  fleeves.  Moft  of  them  wear  under  all  a  pair  of  linen  drawers 
B.  and  when  their  vefts  are  open  before,  after  the  Turkifh  manner,  it  is 
an  odd  fight  to  fee  the  fhirt  hang  down,  which  they  do  not  put  into  the 
drawers,  according  to  the  Turkifh  cuftom  with  the  men,  tho'  not  with  the 
ladies ;  for  the  drefs  of  the  men  in  Turkey,  is  more  modeft  than  of  the 
women,  whereas  in  Europe  it  is  rather  the  contrary. 

This  fort  of  drefs  feems  to  be  fomething  like  that  of  the  antient  Egyp- 
tians, who  were  clothed  with  linen,  wearing  a  woollen  garment  over  it  ; 
and  when  they  perform'd  any  religious  offices,  they  were  always  clothed 
in  linen,  looking  on  it  as  a  fort  of  profanation  to  wear  woollen  at  fucli 
folemnities  *.  And  poffibly  the  cuftom  of  putting  on  the  white  garment 
in  upper  Egypt,  when  they  go  to  their  mofques,  or  whenever  they  would 
appear  in  a  drefs  of  ceremony,  might  give  rife  to  the  ufe  of  the  furplice. 
The  moft  fimple  Turkifh  drefs  is  fuch  drawers,  over  which  the  better  fort 

^uarajvwTgf ,  ifs  xaftsaffi  jtMtfm'eA'  el")  TKTOifft  3\  K&mci     yxa  ociqv.    HcrodotUS  1.  U.  C.  8 1 . 

Vol.  I.  C  c  c  wear 


OBSERVATIONS 

wear  a  pair  of  red  cloth  drawers,  C.  down  to  the  ankles  ;  to  which  are 
fewed  ftockings  of  yellow  leather,  which  come  no  higher  than  the  ankle, 
and  under  them  they  wear  focks  of  yellow  leather  E.  but  the  Chriftians  of 
the  country  wear  red  leather,  at  leaft  their  Papouches  or  flippers  G.  and 
the  Jews  wear  blue ;  but  the  leather  fewed  on  is  not  wore  by  the  common 
people,  but  only  the  focks,  and  fo  their  legs  appear  bare  up  to  the  drawers. 
The  Arabs  and  Egyptians  wear  fhoes  of  red  leather,  like  a  flipper,  with 
hind  quarters,  H.  and  the  janizaries  wear  them  of  the  fame  colour,  and  very 
little  different.    The  Turks  and  Chriftians  in  the  city,  within  doors,  out 
of  frugality,  wear  a  wooden  fort  of  patten  F.  fomething  like  the  wooden 
landal  of  the  monks,  fome  of  which  are  made  very  fine;  and  it  is  to  be 
obferved  that  the  drefs  of  the  feet  and  of  the  head,  very  much  diftinguifli 
perfons  in  thefe  countries;  and  they  are  fined  if  they  go  contrary  to  the 
cuftom.    Frank  Chriftians  only  have  the  liberty  of  wearing,  as  the  Turks, 
yellow  Papouches  ;  and  they,  in  many  parts,  wear  a  yellow  flipper,  I.  The 
Turks  wear  fuch  boots  as  are  reprefented  at  K.  having  iron  plates  under  the 
heel,  as  they  often  wear  their  Papouches.    The  Turkifh  garments  are  firft 
a  fort  of  fliort  garment  L.  without  fleeves,  of  dimity  or  linen  ;  it  is  often 
not  open  before,  but  tied  on  the  fide;  over  it  is  a  fhort  veft  with  fleeves,  M. 
over  that  is  a  long  garment  of  the  fame  kind.    Thefe  two  laft  are  either  of 
died  linen,  or  ftriped  fluffs  of  linen  or  cotton,  or  of  ftriped  or  plain  filks 
and  fattins;  and  in  fummer  they  wear  the  long  garment  and  the  drawers  of 
the  fineft  white  callicoes.  Over  this  is  a  clofe-fleeved  garment,  like  the  Greek 
gown,  which  is  call'd  a  Benifh,  and  is  the  common  drefs ;  and  over  that  is 
the  Ferijee  mention'd,  which  is  the  drefs  of  ceremony.    They  have  ano- 
ther fort  cut  differently  in  the  fleeve,  which  is  not  fo  high  a  drefs  *.  Thele 
two  laft  garments  are  either  of  cloth,  mohair,  or  filk,  according  to  the  fea- 
fon  ;  the  latter  indeed  is  never  of  filk,  nor  is  the  Benifh  ever  wore  here  of 
filk,  tho'  it  is  in  Syria.    A  girdle  or  fafh  of  filk,  mohair,  or  woollen,  goes 
round  all  but  the  two  outer  garments,  into  which  they  ftick  a  knife  in 
its  fheath.    The  people  of  Egypt  wear  a  blue  cloth  about  their  necks,  and 
with  it  cover  their  head-  againft  the  cold  and  fun,  and  fome  of  them  are 
very  large.     It  is  almoft  a  general  cuftom  among  the  Arabs  and  Maho- 
metan natives  of  the  country,  to  wear  a  large  blanket,  either  white  or 
brown,  and  in  fummer  a  blue  and  white  cotton  fheet,  which  the  Chriftians 
conftantly  ufe  in  the  country  ;  putting  one  corner  before  over  the  left 
fhoulder,  they  bring  it  behind,  and  under  the  right  arm,  and  fo  over 
their  bodies,  throwing  it  behind  over  the  left  fhoulder,  and  fo  the  right 
arm  is  left  bare  for  action.    When  it  is  hot,  and  they  are  on  horfeback, 
they  let  it  fall  down  on  the  faddle  round  them  ;  and  about  Faiume  I  par- 
ticularly obierved,  that  young  people  efpecially,  and  the  poorer  fort,  had 
nothing  on  whatfoever  but  this  blanket;  and  it  is  probable  the  young  man 
was  clothed  in  this  manner,  who  follow'd  our  Saviour  when  he  was  taken, 
having  a  linen  cloth  caft  about  his  naked  body ;  and  when  the  young  men 
laid  hold  on  him,  he  left  the  linen  cloth  and  fled  from  them  naked  f.  The 
head-drefs  is  either  that  high  ftiff  cap  at  N.  with  a  long  piece  of  white 
muflin  wound  round  it,  all  together  call'd  The  turbant,  by  Europeans. 
The  Dervifhes  wear  fuch  a  one  as  is  at  O.  without  any  thing  round  it,  and 
the  Turcomen  fuch  a  long  one  more  pointed,  both  made  of  a  fort  of 

coarie 


*  This  is  call'd  a  Kcrikec.  -f  Jofeph's  garment  might  alfo  be  of  this  kind, 


3 


ON    EGYPT.  i9r 

coarfe  felt.  P.  is  the  cloth  cap  of  the  Boftangees.  Inferior  people,  in- 
ftead  of  the  turbant,  wear  a  red  woollen  cap  a.  which  comes  clofe  to  the 
head.  This  is  wore  by  the  Arabs,  and  native  Egyptians,  except  merchants, 
and  great  ftewards  of  Arab  Princes,  and  Copti  priefts,  who  wear  the  other. 
Under  this  they  wear  a  little  white  linen  fkull-cap.  I  was  told  atDamafcus, 
that  one  whofe  family  has  not  wore  the  high  turbant,  and  the  leathern  flock- 
ing fewed  to  the  drawer,  cannot  begin  to  wear  them  there,  unlefs  by  vir- 
tue of  fome  office  or  employ  ;  but  the  fafh  wound  round  the  head,  is  the 
great  diftindtion.  None  but  the  relations  of  Mahomet  can  wear  green. 
The  white  is  proper  to  Mahometans ;  but  in  Syria,  where  there  are  vil- 
lages of  Chriftians,  as  on  Mount  Libanon,  they  wear  white;  and  any  one 
may  wear  white,  if  they  put  a  colour'd  firing,  to  diftinguifh  themfelves,  as 
the  Samaritans  do,  and  the  Jews  of  Saphet  in  Syria,  who  have  red  and  blue 
firings  few'd  acrofs  the  fafh;  but  this  is  not  much  ufed.  The  Chriftians 
and  Jews  in  all  thefe  parts,  wear  either  blue,  or  blue  and  white  ftriped. 
The  Franks  in  Cairo  did  wear  white,  and  then  they  wore  Carpacks,  or  red 
caps  turn'd  up  with  furr,  as  reprefented  at  b.  as  fome  do  now,  but  it  is 
the  proper  drefs  of  the  interpreters.  The  others  generally  wear  the  red  cap, 
and  the  red  muflin  tied  round ;  in  all  other  parts  they  wear  a  hat  and  wig,  as 
the  Englifh  conful  does  when  he  goes  out  in  public.  The  French  con- 
ful,  and  fome  of  his  officers  go  in  the  Frank  habit ;  and  fo  have  the  Eng- 
lifh confuls  formerly,  as  they  do  at  Aleppo.  And  Cairo  is  the  only  place 
I  have  heard  of  in  Turkey,  where  none  but  the  confuls  ordinarily  ride 
on  horfes.  The  common  people  in  the  country  either  wear  no  fafh  round 
the  cap,  or  one  of  coarfe  white  cotton,  or  of  yellow  or  red  woollen  fluff. 

The  drefs  of  the  women,  according  to  the  manner  of  Conftantinople,  Dre<s  °f  tt>« 
is  not  much  unlike  that  of  the  men,  only  moll  of  their  under  garments  womcn' 
are  of  filk,  as  well  as  their  drawers;  and  all  but  the  outer  veft  are  fhorter 
than  the  mens,  and  their  fleeves  are  made  to  hang  down,  a  fort  of  gauze 
fhirt  coming  down  near  to  the  ground  under  all.  Their  heads  are  drefled 
with  an  embroider'd  handkerchief,  and  the  hair  platted  round,  having  on 
a  white  woollen  fkull-cap.  The  ordinary  women  wear  a  large  linen  or 
cotton  blue  garment,  like  a  furplice  ;  and  before  their  faces  hangs  a  fort  of 
a  bib,  which  is  join'd  to  their  head- drefs  by  a  tape  over  the  nofe ;  the 
fpace  between  being  only  for  the  eyes ;  which  looks  very  odd.  The  others 
who  wear  this  garment  of  filk,  have  a  large  black  veil  that  comes  all  over, 
and  fomething  of  gauze  that  covers  the  face.  It  being  reckon'd  a  great 
indecency  to  fhew  the  whole  face,  they  generally  cover  the  mouth,  and  one 
eye,  if  they  do  not  cover  the  whole.  The  different  dreffes  of  men  and 
women,  moil  peculiar  to  Egypt,  may  be  feen  in  the  fifty-ninth  plate,  and 
an  explanation  of  them  below  f.     The  common  women,  efpecially  the  * 

blacks, 

-f  The  Copti  reprefents  one  of  their  writers,  the  Chous  of  the  janizaries,  beating  the  ground 
with  his  account  book  in  his  hand.  The  Bey's  with  his  ftick,  to  make  way  ;  for  this  great  offt- 
drefs,  with  that  particular  cap,  is  that  which  he  cer  always  goes  on  an  afs,  for  the  greater  fpeed. 
wears  only  in  great  ceremony.  The  natural  is  The  affes  pace  along  very  faft ;  whereas  'tis  con- 
copied  from  one  who  actually  was  attired  in  that  trary  to  the  Turkifh  dignity  to  go,  on  a  horfe, 
manner.  The  man  always  leads  the  lady's  afs,  fafter  than  a  foot  pace  in  the  ftreets.  This  Chous's 
and  if  fhe  has  a  fervant,  he  goes  on  one  fide  ;  but  black  drefs  is  very  particular,  becaufe  no  other 
the  afs  driver  follows  the  men,  goads  on  the  beaft,  Mahometan  men  ever  wear  black  j  and  his  gar- 
and  when  he  is  to  turn,  directs  his  head  with  the  ment  is  tuck'd  up  before,  which  fecms  likev/ife 
pole.    But  he  ought  to  have  been  drawn  before    to  be  defign'd  for  greater  convenience  in  difpatch- 

ing 


i  o  t  OBSERVATIONS 

blacks,  wear  rings  in  their  nofes  ;  into  the  rings  they  put  a  glafs  bead  for 
ornament,  as  at  They  wear  on  their  ears  large  rings,  three  inches  dia- 
meter, that  come  round  the  ear,  and  are  not  put  into  it ;  thefe  are  orna- 
mented as  at  R.  The  rings  they  wear  on  their  fingers  are  fuch  as  are  feen 
at  V.  which  are  fometimes  of  lead,  but  the  better  fort  of  women  wear  gold. 
Their  bracelets  T.  are  moft  commonly  a  work  of  wire :  There  are  fome 
of  gold  finely  jointed;  a  more  ordinary  fort  are  of  plain  iron  or  brafs. 
They  wear  aifo  fuch  rings  as  at  S.  round  their  naked  legs,  moft  commonly 
made  of  brafs  among  the  vulgar,  who  alfo  wear  about  their  necks  the  or- 
nament W.  Among  the  common  people  it  is  made  of  pewter;  and  in 
the  cafe  at  the  bottom  they  put  a  paper  with  fomething  writ  on  it  out  of 
the  Alcoran,  as  a  charm  againft  ficknefs  and  other  evils.  The  other  cafes 
feem  to  be  defign'd  for  the  fame  purpofe.  People  of  middling  condition, 
inftead  of  thele,  have  many  ornaments  of  filver,  and  often  pieces  of  money 
hung  to  them,  and  fometimes  antient  coins  they  happen  to  meet  with; 
and  even  in  the  country,  whenever  they  go  out  to  wafh  at  the  river,  or  to 
fetch  water,  they  put  on  all  their  attire,  and  appear  in  full  drefs.  I  have 
here  added  the  ring  X.  which  I  faw  at  Alexandria ;  it  is  of  gold,  and  feems 
to  have  been  the  ring  of  a  patriarch  of  Alexandria.  What  is  cut  in  the  gold 
is  reprefented  at  Z.  in  its  juft  proportion,  and  larger  on  the  other  fide. 
Women  ride  on  affes  in  Cairo,  with  very  fhort  ftirrups,  which  it  is  a  dis- 
honour for  the  men  to  ufe,  when  they  mount  thefe  beafts.  They  have  a 
prophecy  that  Cairo  will  be  taken  by  a  woman  on  horfeback,  which,  as 
they  fay,  makes  them  ftridtly  forbid  women  mounting  on  horfes.  The 
time  when  the  women  go  out,  is  moftly  on  fridays,  to  the  burial-places, 
to  adorn  with  flowers  and  boughs  the  fepulchres  of  their  relations,  to  hang 
a  lamp  over  them,  and  pour  water  on  their  graves ;  and  they  place  wa- 
ter in  vafes  near.  When  the  women  ride,  they  commonly  wear  a  yellow 
fort  of  a  boot  or  ftocking,  being  without  a  fole  ;  and  ladies  of  diftin&ion 
have  many  female  flaves  that  follow  them  on  afles,  who  do  not  wear  thofe 
large  veils,  but  only  a  covering  over  the  forehead  and  lower  part  of  die 
face,  leaving  the  eyes  uncover'd  between.  Their  clofe  garment  has  a  cape 
that  hangs  down  behind,  and  they  make  a  much  better  figure  than  their 
miftreffes.  The  women  alfo  go  out  to  the  bagnios,  which  are  referved  for 
them  at  a  certain  time,  every  day :  This  is  their  rendezvous  to  talk  with 
one  another  and  hear  news. 
Decency.        There  are  women  who  so  barefaced  about  the  ftreets,  dancing,  finginp- 

Women  and       ...  ,  .    nb  r        .    ■       i      re        ■     i  i 

harlots.      and  playing  on  iome  mnrument,  as  repreiented  in  the  ntty-ninrii  plate. 
Thefe  may  not  be  fuppofed  to  be  very  virtuous ;  and  yet  they  fay  they  are 
fb,  in  one  refpedt,  in  which  they  might  be  moft  fufpe&ed.    There  are  not- 
withftanding  common  women,  who  are  in  a  manner  licenfed,  and  pay  a 
Oiher       tribute  on  that  account.    The  vulgar  women  paint  their  lips,  and  the  tip 
cuftoms.     o£  tjig  chin  with  blue,  and  thofe  of  better  condition  paint  their  nails  yel- 

ing  his  affairs.    He  fhould  have  been  reprefented  pleafure  of  feeing  about  them,  without  having 

rather  fitting  upright.    The  woman,  with  that  their  faces  feen.    It  is  to  be  obferved  that  what 

odd  fort  of  cover  on  her  face,  is  in  the  drefs  of  the  Copti  has  in  his  hand  is  a  fort  of  palkboard, 

the  ordinary  women  of  Egypt ;  and  "tis  to  be  ob-  on  which  his  accounts  are  ftrung.    Over  them 

fcrved  that  'tis  genteel  to  turn  in  their  toes.  The  comes  another  pafteboard,  and  fo  they  are  tied 

other  is  an  Arab  woman  fpinning.    The  lady  on  together.    They  have  palteboards  alfo  painted  o- 

horfeback  has  a  fort  of  cover  over  the  upper  part  ver •,  they  write  on  them,  and  wipe  off  the  writing 

of  her  face,  which  is  of  black  horfe-hair,  that  is  with  a  wet  fpunge,  being  ufed  as  Dates, 
extended  by  art,  fo  as  that  they  may  have  the 

low, 


ON    EGYPT.  193 

low,  and  alfo  their  feet  with  a  dye  made  of  a  feed  call'd  Hennah ;  and  they 
colour  their  eye-lids  with  black  lead,  and  fo  do  many  even  of  the  men  a- 
mong  the  Turks,  imagining  it  good  for  weak  eyes. 

Coffee-houfes  are  not  reforted  to  by  the  beft  company,  but  only  by  people 
of  the  middle  rank :  They  have  their  mulic  at  certain  hours  of  the  day,  in 
fome  of  them,  and  in  others  a  man  tells  fome  hiftory,  a  fort  of  Arabian 
tales,  with  a  good  grace  ;  which  is  a  method  they  have  to  bring  company 
together.  They  often  fend  to  the  (hops  for  their  provifions  to  be  brought 
to  the  coffee-houfes ;  and  thofe  who  have  nothing  to  do,  pais  whole  days 
in  them. 

Both  Turks  and  Egyptians  are  very  frugal  in  their  manner  of  living; 
the  latter  feldom  eat  meat,  and  the  expence  of  the  great  men  in  their 
tables  is  but  fmall,  confidering  the  number  of  attendants  they  have,  in 
which  they  are  very  extravagant.  It  is  common  for  them  to  have  fifty  or 
fixty  Haves,  and  as  great  a  number  of  other  fervants,  befides  dependants. 
They  are  at  great  expences  in  clothing  their  Haves,  and  in  keeping  a 
great  number  of  horfes,  from  fifty  to  two  hundred.  They  are  excellently 
well  managed;  do  not  feem  to  know  their  own  ftrength,  always  ftanding 
with  the  hind  and  fore  legs  tied  together  ;  they  feed  them  with  grafs  when 
in  leafon,  and  at  other  times  with  chopped  draw,  and  give  them  barley  all 
the  year.  They  lie  on  their  dung,  without  ftraw,  and  very  often  (land 
abroad,  efpecially  in  upper  Egypt  they  keep  them  out  in  their  courts  all 
the  year  round :  They  walk  finely,  never  trot,  but  gallop  fwiftly,  turn  fud- 
denly,  and  flop  in  a  moment  on  full  fpeed  ;  but  they  never  gallop  but  for 
diverfion,  or  to  run  away. 

The  Mahometans  have  a  certain  veneration  for  fools  and  mad  people,  as  Veneration 
thinking  them  afted  by  a  divine  fpir.it,  and  look  on  them  as  a  fort  of  faints,  p^^S' 
They  call  them  here  Sheiks.  There  are  fome  women  of  them ;  but  the 
mod  part  are  men,  who  go  about  the  towns,  are  received  in  all  houfes  and 
at  all  tables;  the  people  kifs  their  hands,  and  pay  them  great  regard,  as  I 
have  obferved.  Some  of  thefe  go  about  their  cities  intirely  naked ;  and  in 
Cairo  they  have  a  large  mofque,  with  buildings  adjoining,  and  great  reve- 
nues to  maintain  fuch  perfons.  A  view  of  one  of  thefe  naturals,  in  a  very 
extraordinary  drefs,  may  be  feen  in  the  fifty-ninth  plate.  As  thefe  are  re- 
commended by  their  want  of  reafon,  fo  the  Dervifhes  are  by  their  want  of 
money ;  poverty  being  efteem'd  by  a  Turk  as  a  great  degree  of  perfection 
in  every  one  but  himfelf.  There  are  hardly  any  of  thefe  in  Egypt ;  nor 
have  they  more  than  one  convent,  which  is  near  old  Cairo,  as  I  obferved 
before. 

The  Egyptians  are  but  an  ill-looking  people,  and  tho'  many  of  them  fair 
enough  when  young,  yet  they  grow  fwarthy  by  the  fun.  They  are  alfo  a 
dirty,  flovenly  generation,  efpecially  the  Coptis,  whofe  drefs,  at  beft,  ap- 
pears but  ill  on  them ;  and  as  table-linen  is  very  rarely  or  never  ufed  by  the 
Arabs,  Egyptians,  or  Coptis,  I  have  feen  the  latter,  after  waffling  their 
hands  when  they  have  eaten,  wipe  them  with  the  great  fieeves  of  their  fhirts. 

The  true  Mamaluke  drefs  is  the  fhort  garment  above- mention'd,  put  into  Mamaluke 
their  great  red  trowfers,  which  are  tied  round  the  leg  at  each  ankle,  the  drds' 
foot  being  left  bare  ;  and  they  wear  the  fort  of  fhoes  ufed  by  the  Arabs 
when  they  ride.    In  other  refpedts  they  drefs  like  the  Turks  ;  and  this  is 

Vol.  I.  D  d  d  the 


i94  OBSERVATIONS 

the  drefs  of  the  flaves,  and  likewife  of  many  of  the  great  men,  when  they 
are  not  in  a  drefs  of  ceremony. 
Modem  ar-  The  architecture  in  Egypt  is  very  bad,  and  their  materials  of  the  worft 
chitefturc.  fort>  many  houfes  being  built  of  unburnt  brick  made  of  earth  and  chopp'd 
ftraw  dried  in  the  fun.  In  towns,  the  lower  part  for  about  five  feet  is  of 
ftone,  and  in  fome  parts  the  corners  are  built  of  brick  or  ftone ;  the  up- 
per part  of  the  houfes  in  towns  are  often  built  in  frames  of  wood  ;  and 
the  large  windows  commonly  fet  out  fo  as  to  command  a  view  of  the 
ftreet;  they  rarely  live  in  the  lower  rooms,  and  I  fuppofe  it  is  not  efteem'd 
wholfome  ;  their  roofs  are  generally  flat,  with  a  cement  over  them,  and 
fometimes  only  earth ;  the  wood  they  ufe  is  either  deal  or  oak,  imported 
from  Afia,  or  the  palm,  ufed  much  in  upper  Egypt,  as  well  as  the  Aca- 
cia :  I  have  feen  planks  of  the  palm  with  a  very  coarfe  grain,  and  their 
carpenters  work  is  the  worft  that  can  be  imagin'd.  Over  the  middle  of 
their  great  faloons  they  have  often  a  dome  or  cupola  that  gives  light,  and 
fometimes  they  have  a  contrivance  by  which  the  middle  part  opens  at  top  to 
let  in  the  air  when  they  think  it  convenient ;  and  they  have  ufually  the 
large  cover  fet  up  over  the  openings,  in  fuch  manner  as  to  keep  out  the 
fun  and  leave  a  free  paflage  for  the  air.  Whatever  is  tolerable  at  Cairo 
in  architecture  is  of  the  times  of  the  Mamalukes,  of  which  one  alfo  fees 
great  remains  at  Damafcus  and  Aleppo,  being  very  folid  buildings  of 
hewn  ftone  infide  and  out ;  the  windows  are  often  oblong  fquares,  and 
perfectly  plain,  as  well  as  the  doors,  except  that  the  latter,  which  are  fet 
into  the  infide  of  the  wall,  have  a  fort  of  grotefque  carv'd  work,  cut  in  an 
inclined  plain  from  the  outride  of  the  wall  to  the  door,  which  has  a 
grand  appearance.  Over  all  openings,  the  ftones  are  either  narrower  at 
bottom  than  at  top,  which  gives  them  the  ftrength  of  an  arch,  or  being 
indented  on  the  fides,  they  are  made  to  fit  into  one  another,  fo  that  they 
cannot  give  way.  In  moft  of  their  mofques  they  have  fmall  well  propor- 
tioned cupolas;  and  exceeding  fine  minarets  to  fome  of  them,  with  feveral 
ftories  of  galleries,  leflening  till  the  minaret  ends  at  top  with  a  fort  of 
pyramidal  point.  There  are  alfo,  as  I  obferved,  about  Cairo,  fome  very 
grand  gates,  with  a  femicircular  or  fquare  tower  on  each  fide.  Their 
houfes  confift  of  one  or  more  large  faloons,  which  have  oftentimes  a  fopha 
at  each  end,  and  a  fquare  fort  of  cupola  in  the  middle ;  they  are  wain- 
fcotted  about  fix  feet  high,  with  pannels  of  marble,  having  round  them  a 
fort  of  Mofaic  work,  compofed  of  marbles  and  fmalt  in  different  figures, 
and  the  floors  that  are  between  the  fophas  are  often  Mofaic  work.  As  for 
the  other  rooms,  they  are  generally  fmall,  for  convenience,  as  they  live  and 
often  lie  in  thefe  faloons,  having  their  beds  brought  on  the  fophas ;  here 
they  likewife  receive  all  their  company.  The  lower  rooms  are  generally 
ufed  as  offices  and  warehoufes ;  the  firft  floor  is  the  part  they  inhabit ;  it 
is  feldom  they  have  a  fecond  ftory,  except  the  little  rooms  on  each  fide 
their  faloons,  which  are  of  the  height  of  two  ftories. 


CHAP. 


ON  EGYPT, 


*95 


CHAP.  VI. 

Of  the  Climate,  Soil  and  Waters  of  Egypt. 

HE  climate  of  Egypt  is  very  hot  in  fummer,  by  reafon  of  its  fitu-  Climata 
ation  between  two  ranges  of  mountains,  and  alfo  on  account  of 
the  fandy  foil.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  day  in  the  fun  it  is  always  hot, 
even  in  winter,  but  the  nights  and  mornings  are  very  cold,  occafioned  by 
the  nitre  in  the  air,  and  on  that  account  it  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  catch 
cold,  efpecially  in  the  head,  which  often  occafions  a  humour  to  fall  on 
the  eyes,  that  is  thought  to  be  the  caufe  of  the  great  number  of  blind, 
and  of  thofe  who  have  weak  eyes;  they  think  it  alfo  bad  for  the  eyes  to 
fuifer  the  dew  to  light  on  them,  which  at  fome  times  of  the  year  falls 
very  plentifully  by  night ;  which  are  the  reafons  why  they  carefully  wrap 
up  the  head,  and  cover  their  eyes  by  night.  The  coldeft  time  here  is  a- 
bout  the  beginning  of  February ;  near  the  fea  they  have  fometimes  great 
rains  from  November  to  March;  but  up  higher,  about  Cairo,  they  have  fel- 
dom  any  rain  but  in  December,  January  and  February;  and  thofe  but 
little  mowers  for  a  quarter  or  half  an  hour.  In  upper  Egypt  they  have 
fometimes  a  little  rain,  and  I  was  told  that  in  eight  years  it  had  been 
known  to  rain  but  twice  very  hard  for  about  half  an  hour,  though  it 
rained  much  towards  Akmim  when  I  was  in  thofe  parts.  The  weft  and 
north  weft  are  the  winds  that  bring  the  rains ;  they  have  thunder  in  the 
fummer,  but  without  rain,  and  that  at  a  diftance,  from  the  north  eaft.  It  Earthquakes, 
has  hardly  ever  been  known  that  they  had  any  earthquakes  that  did  mif- 
chief,  and  thofe  that  rarely  happen'd  were  fcarce  perceivable :  But  in  Ja- 
nuary 174.0,  they  had  three  great  fhocks  of  an  earthquake  immediately 
after  one  another,  which  threw  down  fome  mofques  and  feveral  houfes; 
and  it  being  a  year  of  fcarcity,  all  the  people  cried  out  for  plenty  of  corn, 
as  they  have  a  ftrange  notion,  that  at  fuch  times  the  heavens  are  open'd,  . 
and  their  prayers  heard.  There  are  two  forts  of  wind  that  blow  moftly  in  WiniJs- 
Egypt,  the  fouth  or  a  few  points  from  it,  and  the  north  wind ;  the  fouth 
wind  is  called  Merify,  it  is  a  very  hot  wind;  fometimes  it  blows  a  few 
points  from  the  eaft  of  the  fouth,  then  it  is  exceeding  hot ;  at  other  times 
it  blows  from  the  weft  of  the  fouth,  when  it  is  rather  windy,  and  not  fo 
hot;  it  blows  alfo  fometimes  very  hard  from  the  fouth  weft;  and  when 
thefe  winds  are  high,  it  raifes  the  fand  in  fuch  a  manner  that  it  darkens 
the  fun,  and  one  cannot  fee  the  diftance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile ;  the  duft 
enters  into  the  chambers  that  are  the  clofeft  fhut,  into  the  very  beds  and 
fcrutores ;  and,  to  give  an  inftance  of  the  romantic  manner  of  talking  among 
the  Eafterns,  they  fay  the  duft  will  enter  into  an  entire  egg  through  the 
fhell.  The  wind  is  often  fo  exceffively  hot,  that  it  is  like  the  air  of  an  oven, 
and  people  are  forced  to  retire  into  the  lower  rooms  and  to  their  vaults,  and 
fhut  themfelves  clofe  up ;  for  the  beft  fence  againft  it  is  to  keep  every  part 
fhut  up;  this  wind  generally  begins  about  the  middle  of  March,  and  conti- 
nues till  May,  it  is  commonly  called  by  the  Europeans  the  Hamfeen  wind, 
or  the  wind  of  the  fifty  days ;  becaufe  that  feafon  of  the  year,  when  it  blows, 
is  fo  call'd  by  the  Arabs,  being  much  about  the  fifty  days  between  Eafter 
and  Whitfuntide.    The  north  wind  is  called  Meltem,  being  what  the  an- 

tients 

1 


196 


OBSERV AT  IONS 


tients  called  the  Etefian  winds:  This  begins  to  blow  in  May,  fome  time 
before  the  Nile  rifes ;  it  is  a  refrefhing  wind,  and  makes  the  exceffive 
heats  of  fummer  fupportable ;  it  brings  with  it  health,  and  the  happinefs 
of  Egypt;  is  thought  to  be  the  caufe  of  the  overflow  of  the  Nile,  and 
continues  blowing  till  November,  and  without  this  wind  they  could  not 
Plague.  fail  up  the  Nile,  all  the  time  that  its  current  is  fo  very  rapid.  It  is  this 
wind  that  puts  a  flop  to  the  plague ;  for  if  it  breeds  of  itfelf,  it  generally 
begins  in  Egypt  about  February,  when  the  weather  is  coldeft,  and  is  thought 
to  be  occalioned  by  a  ftoppage  of  perfpiration  ;  it  rages,  and  is  very  mor- 
tal during  the  hot  winds ;  but  they  have  the  plague  very  rarely  in  E- 
gypt,  unlefs  brought  by  infection  to  Alexandria,  when  it  does  not  com- 
monly fpread  ;  fome  fuppofe  that  this  diftemper  breeds  in  temperate 
weather,  and  that  exceffive  cold  and  heat  flops  it ;  fo  that  they  have  it  not 
in  Conftantinople  in  winter,  nor  in  Egypt  in  fummer ;  but  at  Conftanti- 
nople  during  the  fummer,  where  the  heat  is  temperate,  in  comparifon  of 
what  it  is  here.  There  are  feveral  things  which  they  imagine  do  not 
communicate  the  infection,  as  water,  iron,  wood,  or  any  thing  made  of 
the  date  tree,  therefore  they  ufe  the  ropes  made  of  a  part  of  this  tree.  As 
foon  as  the  plague  begins,  the  Franks  fhut  up  their  houfes,  but  others 
go  about  as  ufual ;  though  fome  great  men  obferving  the  Europeans  efcape, 
retired  in  the  laft  plague,  notwithftanding  their  notion  of  predeftination. 
The  moft  mortal  plague  is  that  which  comes  from  the  fouth,  being  much 
worfe  than  any  infection  from  Conftantinople,  and  is  brought  by  the  ca- 
ravan that  comes  from  Ethiopia. 

The  air  of  Cairo  is  not  thought  to  be  very  wholfome,  at  night  efpeci- 
aly ;  the  fmoak,  when  there  is  no  wind,  hovering  over  it  like  a  cloud,  their 
fires  being  made  in  the  evening,  when  they  eat  their  great  meal  At 
fpring  and  fall,  people  are  much  fubjeft  to  fluxes,  but  in  the  fummer  they 
are  not  dangerous,  and  in  all  diftempers  foups  made  of  meat  are  not  reckon'd 
proper.  The  people  of  the  country  are  often  troubled  with  ruptures,  which 
are  thought  to  be  caufed  by  heats  and  colds,  and  alfo  by  draining  their  voices 
fo  exceffively  in  ringing,  thofe  who  cry  oft7  the  mofques  being  moft  commonly 
afflicted  with  this  diftemper.  It  has  been  pofitively  affirmed,  that  a  fright 
caufes  people  here  to  break  out  in  blotches,  like  a  foul  difeafe,  to  prevent 
which,  bleeding  is  thought  a  proper  remedy,  and,  when  I  came  from  Ro- 
fetto,  they  fhewedme  a  boy  about  fourteen,  who,  they  affured  me,  was  juft 
recovered  out  of  fuch  a  diforder,  and  had  marks  of  it ;  but  I  have  been 
informed  that  this  very  rarely  happens,  and  that  the  notion  is  encouraged 
for  fome  certain  ends,  to  cover  other  caufes  that  are  fometimes  more  real. 
The  moft  unhealthy  time  is  when  the  perfpiration  is  flopped  by  the  cold, 
for  every  thing  here  is  very  nourifhing;  and  this  is  given  as  a  reafon  for 
drinking  coffee,  that  it  is  drying,  and  prevents  the  making  too  much  blood  ; 
when  they  have  the  benefit  of  perfpiration,  it  carries  off  all  fuperfluous 
humours,  and  the  great  quantities  of  water,  fhirbets,  &c.  that  are  drunk, 
do  no  harm ;  but  if  they  do  not  fweat,  they  burn  in  hot  weather,  and 
are  in  a  fort  of  fever,  in  which  cafe  the  bagnios  are  a  great  relief,  which 
carry  off,  or  at  leaft  diminifh  a  great  many  diforders  in  the  blood,  and 
prevent  their  appearing.  About  May  moft  perfons  break  out  in  a  rafh, 
which  continues  during  the  heats ;  it  is  thought  that  drinking  the  waters 
of  the  Nile  after  it  rifes,  contributes  toward  it;  and  it  is  the  fafhion  to 

carry 


Other  dif- 
tempers. 


ON   EGYPT.  197 

carry  a  ftick  called  Maharofhy,  which  is  made  at  the  end  like  a  file,  and 
it  is  no  frame  to  rub  themfelves  with  it,  as  they  have  occafion. 

The  foil  of  Egypt,  except  what  additions  it  has  received  from  the  over-  Soil  of  E- 
flow  of  the  Nile,  is  naturally  fandy.  The  hills  on  each  fide  are  freeftone ;  syp' 
thofe  the  pyramids  of  Gize  are  built  on,  are  full  of  petrified  Ihells,  and 
fo  are  the  ftones  of  which  the  pyramids  themfelves  are  built,  being  dug 
out  of  thefe  hills.  I  particularly  obferved  at  Saccara  a  large  pyramid, 
and  a  fmaller  unfinifh'd,  built  of  ftones  that  are  almoft  entirely  compofed 
of  oyfter  fhells  cemented  together;  there  are  alfo  fome  low  hills  of  the 
mountains  that  are  north  north  eaft  of  Faiume,  and  others  clofe  to  the 
Nile  on  the  eaft,  which  are  heaps  of  large  oyfter  fhells,  fome  remaining 
in  their  firft  ftate,  and  others  petrified,  where  there  was  fufficient  moifture. 
The  foil  of  Egypt  is  full  of  nitre  or  fait,  which  occafions  nitrous  vapours, 
that  make  the  night  air  fo  cold  and  dangerous.  Where  the  nitre  abounds 
very  much,  and  there  are  fmall  lakes  on  the  low  grounds,  after  the  water 
has  evaporated,  a  cake  of  fait  is  left  on  the  furface,  which  is  gather'd  for 
ufe,  and  I  have  feen  the  beafts  often  eat  the  very  earth,  when  they  find 
it  is  mix'd  with  the  fait,  which  fometimes  appears  on  the  ground  fike  a 
white  froft.  It  is  this  and  the  rich  quality  of  the  earth,  which  is  the  fe- 
diment  of  the  water  of  the  Nile,  that  makes  Egypt  fo  fertile,  and  fome- 
times they  even  find  it  neceffary  to  temper  the  rich  foil,  by  bringing 
fand  to  it ;  but  the  fandy  foil,  though  they  bring  water  to  it,  will  not 
produce  a  crop  that  will  anfwer  the  expence,  but  does  very  well  for  trees. 
For  a  mile  from  the  mountains,  or  more,  the  country  is  commonly  fandy, 
being  a  very  gentle  rifing,  and  may  be  looked  on  as  the  foot  of  the  hill. 
Near  the  edge  of  this  defert  they  generally  have  villages  at  a  proper  di- 
ftance,  with  plantations  about  them,  as  well  as  at  fome  little  diftance  from 
the  river;  and  if  the  hills  are  above  four  or  five  miles  from  the  Nile, 
they  have  villages  in  the  middle,  between  the  hills  and  the  river,  which 
are  built  on  raifed  ground,  where  the  Nile  overflows.  The  lower  parts 
of  Egypt  feem  formerly  to  have  been  all  a  marfhy  uninhabited  country  ,- 
and  Herodotus  gives  that  account  of  it  b ;  for  before  the  canals  were  made, 
a  much  lefs  quantity  of  water  muft  overflow  the  country,  becaufe  the 
out-lets  were  lefs,  and  fo  the  water  was  more  confined  within  its  bounds, 
till  it  overflowed,  and  confequently  overflow'd  fooner ;  and  all  being  on 
a  level,  and  no  ground  raifed,  to  build  thefe  villages  on,  it  muft  have 
been  very  inconvenient,  and  almoft  impoffible  to  inhabit  the  country,  which 
at  that  time  muft  have  been  foon  fubject  to  fuch  inundations,  as  are 
looked  on  to  be  a  prejudice  to  the  Country,  by  caufing  the  water  to  re- 
main on  it  longer  than  was  proper;  and  at  that  time,  the  upper  parts  of 
Egypt  might  be  overflow'd,  and  receive  that  acceffion  of  a  rich  foil  which 
makes  it  fo  fruitful ;  fo  that  probably  one  reafon  why  Sefoftris  open'd  ca- 
nals, was  to  prevent  thefe  hurtful  inundations,  as  well  as  to  convey  water  to 
thofe  places,  where  they  might  think  proper  to  have  villages  built,  and 
to  water  the  lands  more  conveniently,  at  fuch  times  as  the  waters  might 
retire  early  ;  for  they  might  find  by  experience  after  the  canals  were  open'd, 
that,  inftead  of  apprehending  inundations,  they  had  greater  reafon,  as  at 

b  Bctffitevffxt  3  st^wtov  «vSf«7T«v  tMyov  Mrv«'  53ri  Tern,  arAqv  0>j£aVic5  *0f*«,  jratray  " Aij'ujrloy  mail  sM^>. 

Herodotus  xt.  c.  4. 


Vol.  I. 


E  e  e 


prefent. 


i98  OBSERVATIONS 

prefent,  to  fear  a  want  of  water,  which  was  to  be  fupplied  as  much  as 
could  be  by  art :  So  that  the  great  canals  were  probably  made  to  prevent 
inundations  ;  and  when  they  began  to  find  a  want  of  water  in  a  well  in- 
habited country,  the  lefler  canals  might  be  made  to  convey  the  water  both 
to  the  villages  and  fields,  when  there  was  not  a  fufHcient  overflow.  It  is 
difficult  to  affirm  how  much  the  ground  has  rifen,  by  reafon  of  the  perpe- 
tual motion  and  fucceffion  of  the  water ;  and  as  every  year  a  great  quantity 
of  foil  is  carried  off  in  the  productions  of  the  earth,  which  are  produced  in 
two  or  three  crops  in  fome  parts,  the  lofs  of  which  is  not  fupplied  any  way 
by  manuring  their  land,  and,  as  the  bed  of  the  Nile  itfelf  may  rife  by  the 
fubfiding  of  the  heavier  fandy  particles,  for  thefe  reafons  it  does  not  feem 
probable  that  the  land  will  rife  fo  high  in  time,  that  there  fhould  be  any 
danger  that  it  will  not  be  overflow'd,  the  ground  riling  alfo  proportionably 
at  the  fea,  and  every  where  elfe  ;  fo  that  on  this  fuppofition,  the  water  will 
rife  much  in  the  fame  proportion  as  it  has  done  to  the  lands  about  it;  the 
great  difference  being  made  by  opening  canals,  and  afterwards,  either  by 
cleanfing  them,  or  neglecting  to  do  it:  Though,  if  the  lands  did  rife  fo 
high  in  lower  Egypt  as  not  to  be  overflown,  they  would  be  only  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  people  of  upper  Egypt,  who  are  obliged  to  raife  the  water 
by  art. 

Wnter.  As  to  the  water  of  Egypt,  it  is  very. much  to  be  doubted,  whether  they 

have  any  that  does  not  depend  on  the  Nile  :  That  of  Jofeph's  well,  which 
is  mention'd  by  fome  as  the  only  fpring  in  Egypt,  certainly  does  ;  for  it 
rifes  and  falls  with  the  Nile,  and  has  fome  degree  of  faltnefs,  by  paffing 
through  the  nitrous  foil.  There  is  indeed  one  water  which  feems  to  be  a 
fpring  ;  it  rifes  in  feveral  parts  among  the  rocks,  and  even  drops  from 
them  at  the  ruin'd  convent  of  Dermadoud,  already  mention'd,  which  is 
fituated  in  a  narrow  valley,  between  the  high  mountains,  on  the  eaft  near 
Akmim,  in  upper  Egypt.  The  water  is  received  in  fmall  bafins,  in  the 
rock  from  which  it  runs,  and  makes  little  pools  about  the  vale.  In  upper 
Egypt,  efpecially  about  Efne,  they  dig  large  wells  a  mile  or  two  from  the 
river,  and  draw  up  the  water  from  them  ;  and  in  all  parts  they  have  wells 
of  brackifh  water,  which  can  no  where  be  wanting,  as  it  is  a  fandy  foil, 
and  the  earth  muft  be  full  of  water,  not  only  where  the  Nile  overflows, 
but  alfo  in  other  parts,  to  the  height  of  the  furface  of  the  Nile ;  which 
accounts  for  the  Nile's  being  the  bountiful  giver  of  water  throughout  all 
the  land  of  Egypt. 


CHAP.  VII. 
Of  the  Nile. 

TheNiie.    '"1"*H  E  river  Nile  is  one  of  the  greateft  curiofities  of  Egypt.    It  muft 
I     be  fuppofed  that  the  north  winds  are  the  caufe  of  its  overflow,  which 
begin  to  blow  about  the  latter  end  of  May,  and  drive  the  clouds, 
form'd  by  the  vapours  of  the  Mediterranean,  fouthward  as  far  as  the  moun- 
tains of  Ethiopia,  which  flopping  their  courfe,  they  condenfe,  and  fall  down 
in  violent  rains.    It  is  faid,  that  at  that  time  not  only  men,  from  their  rea- 
,  fon, 


ON  EGYPT. 

Jon,  but  the  very  wild  beafts,  by  a  fort  of  inftindt,  leave  the  mountains. 
This  wind,  which  is  the  caufe  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile,  by  driving  the  clouds 
againft  thofe  hills,  is  alfo  the  caufe  of  it  in  another  refpedt,  as  it  drives 
in  the  water  from  the  fea,  and  keeps  back  the  waters  of  the  river  in  fuch 
a  manner  as  to  raife  the  waters  above.  The  increafe  of  its  rife  every  day 
muft  be  greateft  during  the  time  it  is  confined  within  its  banks.  By  ac- 
counts in  the  laft  book,  of  its  rife  for  three  years,  I  find  it  rofe  the  fix  firft 
days  from  two  inches  to  five  inches  every  day  <  for  the  twelve  next  days 
from  five  to  ten,  and  fo  continues  rifing  much  in  the  fame  manner,  but 
rather  abating  in  its  rife  every  day,  till  towards  the  time  it  arrives  at  the 
height  of  fixteen  pikes,  when  the  Calige  or  canal  at  Cairo  is  cut  ;  after- 
wards, tho'  it  goes  on  rifing  fix  weeks  longer,  yet  it  does  not  rife  fo  much 
every  day,  but  from  three  to  five  inches ;  for,  fpreading  over  the  land,  and 
entering  into  the  canals,  tho'  the  quantity  of  water  that  defcends  may  be 
much  greater  than  before,  yet  the  rife  is  not  fo  great ;  for  after  the  canal 
at  Cairo  is  open'd,  the  others  are  open'd  at  fix'd  times,  thofe  which  water 
the  loweft  grounds  being  cut  open  laft.  From  thefe  canals,  when  full,  the 
country  is  overflow'd,  and  not  commonly  from  the  great  body  of  the  Nile, 
that  is,  where  the  banks  are  high ;  for  it  is  otherwife  in  the  Delta,  where 
they  are  low.  Canals  are  carried  along  the  higheft  parts  of  the  country, 
that  the  water  may  have  a  fall  from  them  to  all  other  parts,  when  the  Nile 
finks  ;  and  they  draw  the  water  out  of  the  great  canals  into  fmall  chan- 
nels, to  convey  it  all  over  the  country.  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  ground 
is  loweft  near  all  other  rivers  which  are  fupplied  from  rivulets;  but,  as 
no  water  falls  into  the  Nile  in  its  paftage  through  this  country,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  as  it  is  neceffary  that  this  river  Ihould  overflow  the  country, 
and  the  v/ater  of  it  be  convey'd  by  canals  to  all  parts,  efpecially  when  the 
waters  abate,  fo  it  feem'd  vifible  to  me,  that  the  land  of  Egypt  is  lower  at 
a  diftance  from  the  Nile,  than  it  is  near  it ;  and  I  imagined,  that  in  moft 
parts  it  appear'd  to  have  a  gradual  defcent  from  the  Nile  to  the  hills ;  that 
is,  to  the  foot  of  them,  that  may  be  faid  to  begin  at  thofe  fandy  parts,  a 
mile  or  two  diftant  from  them,  which  are  gentle  afcents,  and  for  that  rea- 
fon  are  not  overflow'd  by  the  Nile. 

The  Egyptians,  efpecially  the  Coptis,  are  very  fond  of  an  opinion,  that  the 
Nile  begins  to  rife  every  year  on  the  fame  day  ;  it  does  indeed  generally  begin 
about  the  eighteenth  or  nineteenth  of  June.  They  have  a  notion  alfo  of  a 
great  dew  falling  the  night  before  the  day  that  they  perceive  it  begins  to 
rife,  and  that  this  dew,  which  they  call  Nokta,  purifies  the  air.  This,  fome 
people  imagine  caufes  the  waters  of  the  Nile  to  ferment,  and  turn  red,  and 
fometimes  green;  which  they  certainly  do  as  foon  as  the  Nile  begins  to 
rife,  and  continue  fo  for  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  days.  Then  the  waters- 
are  very  unwholfome  and  purging ;  and  in  Cairo  they  drink  at  that  time 
of  the  water  preferved  in  cifterns  under  the  houfes  and  mofques :  And  this 
might  originally  be  a  reafon  why  they  would  not  let  the  water  into  the 
canals,  which  would  fill  the  little  lakes  about  every  village,  and  afterwards 
fpoil  the  good  water  that  might  come  into  them.  It  is  fuppofed,  that  the 
fources  of  the  Nile,  beginning  to  flow  plentifully,  the  waters  at  firft  bring 
away  that  green  or  red  filth  which  may  be  about  the  lakes  at  its  rife,  or  at 
the  rife  of  thefe  fmall  rivers  that  flow  into  it,  near  its  principal  fource ;  for, 
tho'  there  is  fo  little  water  in  the  Nile  when  at  loweft,  that  there  is  hardly 

any 


OBSERVATIONS 

any  current  in  many  parts  of  it,  yet  it  cannot  be  fuppofed,  that  the  waters 
fhould  ftagnate  in  the  bed  of  the  Nile,  fo  as  to  become  green.  Afterwards 
the  water  becomes  very  red,  and  ftill  more  turbid,  and  then  it  begins  to 
be  wholfome,  and  is  drunk  by  the  vulgar  ;  but  moft  people  have  large 
jarrs,  the  infides  of  which  they  rub  with  pounded  almonds,  that  is,  what 
remains  after  the  oil  is  preffed  out,  which  caufes  the  water  to  ferment  and 
fettle  in  four  or  five  hours.  The  water  continues  reddifh  till  the  rapidity 
of  the  ftream  begins  to  abate  in  December  and  January;  but  the  river 
continues  to  fall,  even  to  the  feafon  when  it  begins  to  rife  again ;  the  waters 
being  always  yellowifh,  and  colouring  the  waters  of  the  fea  for  fome  leagues 
out.  I  found  the  height  of  the  Nile  at  the  Mikias  in  January,  according 
to  their  account,  to  be  about  eleven  pikes ;  in  March  about  nine  pikes ; 
but  in  the  computation  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile,  I  fuppofe  it  to  be  three  pikes 
lefs  than  the  account  they  give  of  it.  They  told  me  alfo,  that  the  mud, 
which  fettles  every  year  in  the  Mikias,  is  about  five  feet  deep.  I  could  not 
have  thought  it  fo  much,  tho'  a  fucceffion  of  water  may  raife  it  fo  high. 

The  precife  day  the  Coptis  would  fix  the  beginning  of  its  rife  to,  is  the 
twelfth  of  their  month  Keah,  which  is  the  fifth  of  June  O.  S.  and  this 
being  their  feftival  of  St.  Michael,  they  make  a  miracle  of  it.  It  is  cer- 
tain, about  this  time,  or  rather  about  St.  John,  the  plague  begins  to  flop, 
when  it  happens  to  be  here,  and  becomes  lefs  mortal ;  tho'  it  feems  rather 
to  be  owing  to  the  change  of  the  wind,  and  the  falling  of  the  dew,  which 
are  fome  time  before,  and  then  they  begin  to  find  the  effects  of  it.  The 
Nile  is  commonly  about  fixteen  pikes  high,  from  the  twenty-fifth  of  July 
to  the  eighteenth  of  Auguft;  the  fooner  it  happens,  they  look  on  it,  they 
have  a  better  profpeft  of  a  high  Nile.  It  has  happen'd  fo  late  as  the  firft,  and 
even  the  nineteenth  of  September  ;  but  they  have  been  then  afflifted  with 
plague  and  famine,  the  Nile  not  rifmg  to  its  proper  height.  Eighteen  pikes 
is  but  an  indifferent  Nile,  twenty  is  middling,  twenty-two  is  a  good  Nile, 
beyond  which  it  feldom  rifes ;  and  it  is  faid,  if  it  rifes  above  twenty-four 
pikes,  it  is  to  be  look'd  on  as  an  inundation,  and  is  of  bad  confequence,  as 
the  water  does  not  retire  in  time  to  fow  the  corn;  but  I  cannot  find  any 
certain  account  when  this  has  happen'd.  As  many  parts  of  Egypt  are  not 
overflown,  one  would  imagine,  when  the  Nile  does  not  rife  high,  they, 
might  fupply  the  want  of  the  water  by  labour,  and  raifing  water,  as  in  up- 
per Egypt ;  but  it  is  faid,  if  it  is  a  low  Nile,  the  water  retires  too  foon,  and 
the  earth  muft  be  fown  in  a  proper  time  after,  before  it  dries  into  hard 
cakes,  in  which  cafe,  the  hot  weather,  ftill  continuing,  breeds  or  preferves 
a  worm  that  eats  the  corn,  as  well  as  withers  the  young  plant ;  fo  that  it 
feems  better  that  the  land  fhould  not  be  overflow'd  at  all,  than  not  fuffi- 
ciently  water'd.  Another  reafon  of  which  may  be,  that  when  it  is  not 
overflow'd,  the  ground  may  be  cultivated  in  proper  time  ;  which  cannot 
be,  when  it  is  only  overflow'd  in  fuch  a  manner  as  is  not  fufficient.  More- 
over, when  the  height  of  the  Nile  does  not  amount  to  fixteen  pikes,  whilft 
they  exped  it  to  rife  higher,  it  begins  to  fall,  and  the  ground  is  to  be  la- 
bour'd  out  of  feafon,  during  the  hot  weather,  and  the  water  is  flowing 
from  them,  to  increafe  the  immenfe  labour  of  watering,  by  raifing  it 
higher,  to  a  dry  thirfty  land  that  will  drink  it  up ;  and  if  they  fow  too 
foon,  the  fame  inconveniences  would  follow  as  above.  As  they  have  dikes 
to  keep  the  water  out  of  the  canals  till  the  proper  time  comes  to  let  it 
+  in, 


ON  EGYPT. 


2,01 


in,  fo  they  have  contrivances  to  keep  it  in  fome  canals  after  the  Nile  is  fal- 
len, as  well  as  in  certain  lakes  when  the  Nile  grows  low ;  and  from  them 
they  let  it  out  at  pleafure,  on  lands  that  are  higher  than  the  channels  of 
the  canals :  And  Strabo  takes  notice  of  thefe  methods  to  hinder  the  water 
from  flowing  in,  or  going  out  when  it  is  in.  Towards  the  mouth  of  the 
Nile,  the  banks  are  low,  and  the  water  overflows  the  land  foon.  There 
likewife  it  has  its  vent  into  the  fea  ;  fo  that  the  water  does  not  rife  at  Ro- 
fetto,  and  below  Damiata,  above  three  or  four  pikes :  And  I  was  allured, 
it  does  not  rife  above  four  or  five  at  Affouan,  juft  below  the  catarads; 
the  reafon  of  which  may  be,  that  the  Nile  below  is  very  broad,  and  that 
the  banks  are  not,  as  in  other  places,  perpendicular,  but  floping,  fo  that 
the  water  is  not  confined,  but  fpreads  over  the  banks,  towards  which  the  low 
hills  come,  on  the  weft  fide,  with  a  gentle  defcent. 

The  Grand  Signor  has  not  a  title  to  his  rents,  till  the  canal  is  open'd  at 
Cairo,  by  breaking  down  the  bank  that  is  thrown  up  before  it,  which  is 
not  to  be  done,  till  the  Nile  rifes  to  fixteen  pikes ;  yet,  when  the  Nile  once 
did  not  rife  fo  high,  and  the  Paflia  cauled  the  canal  to  be  open'd,  the 
people,  notwithftanding,  would  not  pay  the  tribute.  The  Nile  has  fome- 
times  been  known  to  rife  irregularly,  as  it  did  a  pike  or  two  in  December, 
one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and  thirty-feven ;  at  which  the  people  were 
alarm'd,  having  made  fome  obfervations,  that  misfortunes  had  happen'd  to 
Egypt  when  the  Nile  had  rifen  out  of  feafon,  and,  particularly,  that  it  did 
fo  in  the  time  of  Cleopatra,  when  Egypt  was  taken  by  the  Romans.  But, 
however,  nothing  happen'd  the  year  following,  but  a  very  plentiful  rifing 
of  the  Nile,  which  is  the  blefling  of  Egypt.  The  time  when  the  Nile  is 
at  higheft,  is  about  the  middle  of  September. 

They  have  different  methods  of  railing  the  water,  where  the  Nile  is  not  Railing  the 
much  below  the  furface  of  the  ground ;  as  at  Rofetto  and  Damiata,  they  Nllc  water< 
make  a  hole  and  put  in  a  wheel  made  with  boxes  round  its  circumference, 
which  receive  the  water,  and,  as  the  wheel  goes  round,  the  boxes  empty 
at  top  into  a  trough  made  for  that  purpofe.  Where  the  water  is  too 
deep  to  be  raifed  in  this  way,  they  put  a  cord  round  the  wheel,  which 
reaches  down  to  the  water  ;  to  it  they  tie  earthen  jarrs,  which  fill  with 
water  as  it  goes  round,  and  empty  themfelves  at  top  in  the  fame  manner, 
being  turn'd  by  oxen.  Where  the  banks  are  high,  the  moil  common  way 
is  to  make  a  bafin  in  the  fide  of  them,  and  fixing  a  pole  with  an  axle  on 
another  forked  pole,  they  tie  a  pole  at  the  end  of  that,  and  at  the  end 
again  of  this  which  is  next  to  the  river,  a  leathern  bucket ;  and  a  ftone  be- 
ing tied  to  the  other  end,  two  men  draw  down  the  bucket  into  the  water, 
and  the  weight  brings  it  up,  the  men  directing  it,  and  turning  the  water 
into  the  bafin  ;  from  this  it  runs  into  another  bafin,  whence  it  is  railed  in 
like  manner,  and  fo  I  have  feen  five,  one  over  another,  in  the  upper  parts 
of  Egypt,  which  is  a  great  labour.  This  is  reprefented  in  the  eighth  plate 
at  D.  Another  way  moftly  ufed  in  railing  water  from  the  canals,  is  a  firing 
tied  to  each  end  of  a  basket,  with  one  man  to  each  firing,  who  let  the 
baiket  into  the  water,  and  drawing  the  firings  tight,  raife  it  three  or  four 
feet  to  a  little  canal,  into  which  they  empty  it,  and  by  that  it  is  convey 'd 
over  the  land.  This  is  reprefented  at  D.  in  the  eighth  plate.  The  waters 
of  the  Nile  are  efteem'd  to  be  very  wholfome  and  nourilhing,  and  may  be 
drunk  very  plentifully,  without  any  inconvenience. 

Vol.  I.  F  f  f  I  know 


302 

Fifli  of  the 
Nile. 


Crocodiles. 


OBSERVATION  S 

I  know  not  whether  there  are  any  fort  of  fifh  in  the  Nile,  that  are  in 
the  rivers  in  Europe,  except  eels  and  mullet,  which  laft,  and  fome  other 
fifh  in  it,  come  from  the  fea  at  certain  feafons.  There  is  no  fort  of  fhell- 
fifti  in  the  river;  but  in  Baher  Jofeph,  the  canal  near  Faiume,  which  runs 
into  the  lake  Caroon,  there  is  a  large  musfle,  that  has  within  it  a  fort  of 
mother  of  pearl  of  a  reddifh  caft.  I  never  could  be  well  informed  about 
the  Hippopotamus,  and  only  heard  that  they  have  been  feen  about  Damiata, 
and  that  by  night  they  had  deftroyed  whole  fields  of  corn ;  but  I  take  the 
foundation  of  this  account  to  be  owing  to  one  that  was  taken  there  fome 
years  ago  ;  they  feem  to  be  natives  of  Ethiopia,  in  the  upper  parts  of  the 
Nile,  and  it  muft  be  very  feldom  that  they  come  down  into  Egypt.  The 
antients  as  well  as  moderns,  notwithftanding,  mention  that  this  beaft, 
when  he  is  out  of  order,  has  a  method  of  bleeding  himfelf  in  the  leg 
with  the  fbarp  pointed  end  of  a  reed,  that  grows  in  thofe  parts,  though  it 
muft  be  very  difficult  to  make  fuch  an  obfervation  \  Herodotus  mentions 
thefe  fifhes,  defcribes  them  particularly,  and  fays,  they  were  worfhipp'd  in 
fome  part  of  Egypt  f.  The  fifh  moftly  efteemed  are  the  Bulfi,  which 
are  very  plentiful,  and  fomething  like  a  large  roach  ;  the  Sebuga,  which 
is  full  of  bones,  and  eats  much  like  a  herring  ;  the  Rai,  which  is  call'd  the 
Cefalo  in  Italian,  and  comes  from  the  fea ;  but  what  is  ftill  more  efteem'd, 
is  a  fifh,  which  the  French  call  the  Variole,  becaufe  it  is  very  much  like 
a  carp ;  they  fay  they  are  fometimes  found  of  two  hundred  weight.  But 
the  moft  delicate  fifh  is  the  Kefher,  which  is  caught  only  towards  upper 
Egypt ;  the  fkin  appears  like  that  of  the  falmon ;  it  has  a  fort  of  a  long 
narrow  fnout,  with  fo  fmall  a  mouth,  that,  from  it,  as  well  as  from  its 
infide,  one  might  conjecture,  it  lives  by  fucking  a  juice  either  from  the 
weeds,  or  out  of  the  ground,  as  reprefented  in  the  feventieth  plate.  When 
1  was  in  upper  Egypt,  they  told  me  there  was  a  large  fifh  call'd  Latous, 
which  probably  is  the  Latus  that  was  worfhipp'd  by  the  Egyptians,  from 
which  the  city  called  Latopolis  had  its  name.  They  inform'd  me  that 
this  fifh  at  Cairo  was  call'd  Cufir,  whence  I  fuppofe  it  muft  be  the  fame 
with  the  Kefher.  There  is  a  fmall  fifh  call'd  Gurgur  in  upper  Egypt,  and 
Shalh  at  Cairo;  it  is  at  moft  about  a  foot  long;  its  head  is  well  fortified 
with  a  ftrong  bone;  the  fin  on  the  back,  and  on  each  fide  under  the 
gills  is  armed  with  a  fharp  bone,  as  reprefented  in  the  fame  plate:  They 
have  an  opinion,  that  this  fifh  enters  the  crocodile,  and  kills  it.  This 
poflibly  may  be  what  Pliny  feems  to  call,  erroneoufly,  the  dolphin,  which, 
he  fays,  has  a  fharp  point  on  his  back,  with  which,  getting  under  the  cro- 
codile's belly,  he  wounds  him. 

It  is  a  general  obfervation,  that  a  crocodile  has  no  tongue,  and  Hero- 
dotus affirms  it;  but  he  has  a  flefhy  fubftance  like  a  tongue,  that  is 
fix'd  all  along  to  the  lower  jaw,  which  may  ferve  to  turn  his  meat.  He 
has  two  long  teeth  at  the  end  of  his  lower  jaw,  and  there  are  two  holes 
in  the  upper  jaw,  into  which  thefe  teeth  go:  When  he  fhuts  his  mouth, 
he  moves  only  the  upper  jaw.  I  found  by  experience,  that  the  crocodiles 
are  very  quick  fighted ;  for,  making  a  circuit  to  come  directly  behind  them, 
to  fhoot  at  them,  I  always  obferved  they  began  to  move  gently  into  the 


c  Vide  Profperi  Alpini  Hiftoriam  Naturalem  f  Lib.  ii.  c.  71. 
iEgypti.  iv.  c.  12. 


water. 


ON  EGYPT. 


water,  as  foon  as  I  came  in  fight  of  them ;  and  there  is  a  fort  of  channel 
on  the  head  behind  each  eye,  by  which  objects  are  convey 'd  to  them. 
Their  eggs  are  about  the  fize  of  a  goofe  egg :  They  make  a  hole  about 
two  feet  deep  in  the  fand,  above  the  overflow  of  the  Nile     in  which  they 
lay  their  eggs,  and  cover  them  over,  often  going  to  the  place  and  taking 
care  of  their  young,  when  hatch'd,  which  immediately  run  into  the  wa- 
ter.   They  lay  fifty  eggs,  which  are  twenty-five  or  thirty  days  in  hatch- 
ing: The  people  fearch  for  the  eggs  to  deftroy  them,  with  an  iron  pike. 
]  could  get  no  account  in  upper  Egypt  of  the  Ichneumon's  deftroying  the 
eggs,  and  entering  by  the  mouth  of  the  crocodile  into  his  bowels,  and 
killing  him;  and  it  feems  improbable  that  it  can  do  this  without  being 
ftifled;  the  animal  they  have  here,  called  Pharaoh's  rat,  which  is  fhewn 
for  it  in  Europe,  is  fomething  of  the  make  of  a  ftote,  but  much  larger; 
it  is  not  improbable  that  it  deftroys  their  eggs.    The  crocodile  when  on 
land  is  always  feen  very  near  the  water,  with  his  head  towards  the  river, 
on  the  low  banks  of  fandy  iflands;  and  if  they  are  difturbed,  they  walk 
gently  into  the  river,  and  difappear  by  degrees,  though  it  is  faid  they 
can  run  faft.    Herodotus  fays,  they  eat  nothing  during  four  months,  in 
the  winter ;  and  Pliny,  that  they  lie  hid  in  caves  during  that  feafon ;  but 
I  faw  them  in  great  abundance  all  the  month  of  January,  and  was  allured, 
they  never  go  above  thirty  or  forty  paces  from  the  river,  and  that  they 
venture  fo  far  only  by  night;  though  it  is  probable,  they  are  moftly  out  of 
water  by  day,  to  fun  themfelves  in  winter,  as  I  obferved ;  and  it  is  alfo  pro- 
bable, that  they  keep  in  the  water  by  day  in  fummer,  when  the  fun  is  hot. 
The  people  fay,  they  cannot  take  a  man  fwimming  in  the  water,  but  if  a 
man  or  beaft  ftands  by  the  river,  they  jump  at  once  out  of  the  water, 
and  feize  him  with  their  fore  claws;  but  if  the  diftance  is  too  great,  they 
make  a  fpring,  and  beat  down  the  prey  with  their  tails.    I  believe  the 
moft  common  way  of  killing  them,  is  by  fhooting  them ;  and  the  ball 
muft  be  direfted  towards  their  bellies,  where  the  fkin  is  foft,  and  not 
arm'd  with  fcales,  as  their  backs  are.  Yet  they  give  an  account  of  a  me- 
thod of  catching  them,  fomething  like  that  which  Herodotus  s  relates  : 
They  make  fome  animal  cry  at  a  diftance  from  the  river,  and  when  the 
crocodile  comes  out,  they  thruft  a  fpear  into  his  body,  to  which  a  rope  is 
tied  ;  they  then  let  him  go  into  the  water  to  fpend  himfelf,  and  afterwards 
drawing  him  out,  run  a  pole  into  his  mouth,  and,  jumping  on  his  back, 
tie  his  jaws  together.    The  crocodile   moft  commonly  frequents  low 
iflands;  and  for  that  reafon  there  are  very  few  below  Akmim;  and  in 
thefe  lower  parts,  the  current  may  be  too  flrong  for  them,  which  they 
avoid,  as  well  as  places  where  the  Nile  runs  among  rocks,  as  it  does  at  the 
cataracts.    It  is  remarkable,  that  the  antient  Egyptians,  in  the  time  of 
Herodotus,  call'd  the  crocodile  Champfa,  and  at  this  day  the  Egyptians 
call  them  Timfah. 


e  Parit  ova  quanta  anferes,  eaque  extra  locum 
eum  Temper  incubat,  prsedivinatione  quadam,  ad 
quern  fummo  auftu  eo  anno  acceffums  eft  Nilus. 
Nihil  aliud  animal  ex  minori  origine  in  majorem 


crefcit  magnitudinem.  Plm.Nat.Hi/l.  viii.  c.  25. 
1  Dies  in  terra  agit,  nodes  in  aqua.  Ibid. 
B  Herodotus  ii.  c.  70. 


CHAP. 


OBSERVATIONS 


CHAP.  VIII. 

Of  the  Vegetables  of  Egypt. 

EGYPT  does  not  naturally  produce  a  great  number  of  vegetables  ,- 
the  heat  and  inundations  every  year  deftroying  moft  of  the  tender 
plants.  Where  the  Nile  has  overflown,  and  the  land  is  fown,  it  yields  a 
great  increafe,  and,  as  it  was  formerly  the  granary  of  the  Roman  empire, 
fo  it  is  now  of  the  Turkifh  dominions ;  from  whence  they  conftantly  re- 
ceive their  rice,  and  alfo  corn,  whenever  they  have  occafion.  In  upper 
Egypt,  the  Arab  Sheiks  have  vaft  granaries  of  corn,  where  they  lay  up 
what  is  more  than  fufficient  for  the  confumption  of  Egypt ;  and  they  chufe 
rather  to  let  it  lie  till  it  rots,  than  to  fend  down  more  than  there  is  a  de- 
mand for;  which  would  fink  the  price:  But  when  there  is  any  extraordi- 
nary demand,  they  then  open  their  granaries.  From  Egypt  all  the  wefiern 
parts  of  Arabia  Fcelix,  about  Mecca  and  Gedda,  are  fupplied  ;  to  which  port 
they  carry  yearly  about  twenty  fhip  loads  of  corn  and  rice  from  Suez ;  it 
being  the  return  which  the  fhips  make,  that  come  loaded  with  coffee.  The 
Arabs  alfo  in  Arabia  Petrsea  on  the  Red  fea,  have  their  fupply  from  E- 
gypt,  before  the  caravan  returns  from  Mecca ;  and  fecure  their  provifion, 
by  threatning  to  plunder  the  caravan,  if  they  are  refufed.  They  fow  the 
land  with  clover,  without  ploughing  it,  and  it  is  this  that  fupplies  the 
place  of  grafs,  which  they  have  not.  They  have  a  fpring  harveft  from 
January  to  May,  and  a  winter  harveft  about  Oftober.  For  the  latter, 
about  July,  before  the  Nile  overflows  the  land,  they  fow  rice,  Indian 
wheat,  and  another  fort  that  produces  a  large  cane,  but  an  ear  like 
millet,  (which  they  call  the  corn  of  Damafcus;  and  in  Italian  is 
call'd  Surgo  Roffo)  and  they  likewife  plant  their  fugar  canes ;  all  thefe 
being  plants  that  require  much  water,  efpecially  rice,  which  has 
an  ear  fomething  like  oats,  and  is  reap'd  before  the  water  is  gone  off, 
and  carried  to  dry  ground ;  its  grain  looks  like  barley  ;  and  they  take 
off  the  hufk  with  a  hollow  cylinder,  one  end  of  which  has  a  blunt  edge, 
which  being  raifed  and  let  down  by  a  machine  turned  by  oxen,  and  fal- 
ling on  the  rice,  caufes  the  outer  coat  to  fcale  off ;  and  being  cleaned,  they 
mix  with  it  a  fmall  quantity  of  fait,  to  preferve  it  from  vermin.  The  peo- 
ple eat  a  great  quantity  of  the  green  fugar  canes,  and  make  a  coarfe  loaf 
fugar,  and  alfo  fugar-candy,  and  fome  very  fine  fugar  fent  to  Conftantino- 
ple  to  the  Grand  Signor,  which  is  very  dear,  being  made  only  for  that 
purpole.  The  fpring  corn  and  vegetables  are  fown  in  November  and 
December,  as  foon  as  the  Nile  is  gone  off,  and  earlier,  where  the  Nile 
does  not  overflow;  thefe  are  wheat,  which  is  all  bearded,  lentils,  lupins, 
flax,  barley,  that  has  fix  rows  of  grain  in  one  ear,  and  is  ufed  moftly 
for  horfes.  They  have  no  oats,  but  fow  beans  for  the  camels,  which  the 
people  alfo  eat  green,  both  raw  and  boiled,  and  likewife  dry.  Befides  thefe, 
they  fow  a  fort  of  vetch  with  one  large  grain  on  each  pod,  call'd  Haum,  which 
they  eat  raw  when  green,  and,  drefled,  is  not  much  inferior  to  peafe,  which 
they  have  not,  but  they  are  ufed  moftly  dry.  They  alfo  cultivate,  at  this 
feafon,  the  Saffranoun,  which  grows  like  fuccory,  and  the  flower  of  it 
dyes  a  rofe  colour;  it  is  exported  into  many  parts  of  Europe.  They  have 
alfo  an  herb,  call'd  Nil,  which  they  cultivate,  in  order  to  make  a  fort  of 

indigo 


O  N  E  G  Y  P  T.  205 

indigo  blue,  which  they  do  if  I  miftake  not,  by  pounding  and  boiling  it, 
afterwards  leaving  it  to  fteep  in  water,  and,  I  fuppofe,  preiling  it  out,  and 
then  probably  boiling  it  again,- or  letting  it  evaporate,  till  it  becomes  a 
cake  or  powder.  They  have  all  forts  of  melons,  cucumbers,  and  other 
vegetables  of  that  kind,  which  the  people  eat  much  in  the  hot  weather, 
as  a  cooling  food.  Upper  Egypt  fupplies  moft  parts  of  Europe  with  Senna ; 
and  in  the  fandy  grounds  there,  the  Coloquintida  grows  wild,  like  a  cala- 
bafh,  being  round,  and  about  three  inches  diameter. 

As  the  land  of  Egypt  does  not  in  any  part  run  into  wood,  fo  it  is  much  Trce3, 
to  be  queftioned,  if  there  are  any  trees  in  it,  which  have  not  been  tranf- 
planted  to  it  from  other  countries.  Thofe  which  are  only  in  gardens,  as  the 
Caflia,  the  orange  and  lemon  kind,  apricots,  the  Mofeh,  a  delicate  fruit,  that 
cannot  be  preferved ;  the  pomegranate,  the  Cous  or  cream  tree,  all  thefe  are 
without  doubt  exotic  trees;  and  fo  probably  is  the  cotton,  which  I  faw  in 
tipper  Egypt,  of  the  perennial  kind  ;  I  have  fince  been  told  that  annual  cot- 
ton grows  in  Delta.  The  following  trees  are  moft  common  in  Egypt,  and 
the  two  firft  are  moft  likely  to  be  natives;  a  tree  call'd  Sount,  which 
feems  to  be  a  fpecies  of  the  Acacia;  it  bears  a  fort  of  key  or  pod,  which 
they  ufe  in  tanning  their  leather,  inftead  bark :  There  is  another  fort 
of  it  in  their  gardens,  called  Fetneh;  it  feems  to  be  the  Acacia  of  Italy, 
call'd  by  the  Italians  Gazieh  ;  it  is  efteem'd  becaufe  of  a  fweet  yellow 
flower  it  bears  ;  but  the  roots  of  it  open'd  and  bruifed,  fend  forth  fuch  a 
difagreeable.  fmell,  that  it  infeds  the  air  for  a  confiderable  diftance.  The 
Ettle,  which  we  call  the  tamarilk,  a  tree  that  grows  wild  in  the  fouth  parts 
of  France ;  the  bark  of  it  is  ufed  in  phytic,  as  a  remedy  for  the  dropfy ; 
and  the  roots  of  it  growing  into  a  ciftern  at  Rama  near  Jerufalem,'  that 
water  is  efteemed  good  for  this  diftemper.  The  Dumez  is  call'd  by 
Europeans,  Pharaoh's  fruit ;  it  is  the  fycamore  of  the  antients,  and  is  pro- 
perly a  Ficus  fatuus :  The  fig  is  fmall,  but  like  common  figs ;  at  the  end  of 
it  a  fort  of  water  gathers  together,  and,  unlefs  it  is  cut  and  the  water  let 
out,  it  will  not  ripen;  this  they  fometimes  do,  covering  the  bough  with 
a  net,  to  keep  off"  the  birds ;  and  the  fruit  is  not  bad,  though  it  is  not 
efteemed.  It  is  a  large  fpreading  tree,  with  a  round  leaf,  and  has  this 
particular  quality,  that  fhort  branches  without  leaves  come  out  of  the  great 
limbs  all  about  the  wood,  and  thefe  bear  the  fruit.  It  was  of  the  timber 
of  this  tree  that  the  Egyptians  made  their  coffins  for  their  embalmed  bodies, 
and  the  wood  remains  found  to  this  day.  Thefe  trees  are  likewife  in  fome 
parts  of  Syria:  They  are  fometimes  planted  near  villages,  efpecially  about 
Cairo  ;  and  the  Sount  is  often  planted  on  each  fide  the  road,  there  being 
alfo  little  woods  of  it,  near  fome  villages.  But  the  moft  extraordinary  The  Palm 
tree  is  the  palm  or  date  tree,  which  is  of  great  ufe  in  this  country,  and  tree' 
deferves  a  particular  defcription.  For  three  or  four  years,  no  body  of  a 
tree  appears  above  ground,  but  they  are  as  in  our  green  houfes.  If  the 
top  is  cut  off,  with  the  boughs  coming  from  it,  either  then  or  afterwards, 
the  young  bud,  and  the  ends  of  the  tender  boughs  united  together  at  top, 
are  a  delicate  food,  fomething  like  chefnuts,  but  much  finer,  and  is  fold 
very  dear.  This  tree  being  fo  fruitful,  they  rarely  cut  off  the  top,  unlefs 
the  tree  is  blown  down ;  though  I  have  been  told,  that  part  of  it  may  be 
cut  away  without  hurting  the  tree.  The  boughs  are  of  a  grain  like  cane, 
and,  when  the  tree  grows  larger,  a  great  number  of  ftringy  fibres  feem  to 
Vol.  I.  G  g  g  ftretch 


206 


OBSERVATIONS 


ftretch  out  from  the  boughs  on  each  fide,  which  crofs  one  another  in  fuch 
a  manner,  that  they  take  out  from  between  the  boughs  a  fort  of  bark  like 
clofe  net  work ;  and  this  they  fpin  out  with  the  hand,  and  with  it  make 
cords  of  all  fizes,  which  are  moftly  ufed  in  Egypt.  They  alfo  make  of  it  a 
fort  of  brulh  for  cloaths.  Of  the  leaves  they  make  mattreffes,  bafkets,  and 
brooms ;  and  of  the  branches,  all  forts  of  cage  work,  fquare  baskets  for  packing, 
that  ferve  for  many  ufes  inftead  of  boxes ;  and  the  ends  of  the  boughs,  that 
grow  next  to  the  trunk,  being  beaten  like  flax,  the  fibres  feparate,  and  be- 
ing tied  together  at  the  narrow  end,  they  ferve  for  brooms.  Thefe  boughs 
do  not  fall  off  of  themfelves  in  many  years,  even  after  they  are  dead,  as 
they  die  after  five  or  fix  years ;  but,  as  they  are  of  great  ufe,  they  com- 
monly cut  them  off"  every  year  (unlefs  fuch  as  are  at  a  great  diftance  from 
any  town  or  village)  leaving  the  ends  of  them  on  the  tree,  which  ftrengthen 
it  much ;  and  when  after  many  years  they  drop  off,  the  tree  is  weaken'd 
by  it,  and  very  often  is  broke  down  by  the  wind ;  the  diameter  of  the  tree 
being  little  more  than  a  foot,  and  not  above  eight  or  nine  inches  when  the 
ends  of  the  boughs  drop  off ;  and,  if  the  tree  is  weak  towards  the  bottom, 
they  raife  a  mound  of  earth  round,  and  it  fhoots  out  abundance  of  fmall 
roots  along  the  fide  of  the  tree,  which  increafe  its  bulk,  fo  that  the  earth 
being  removed,  the  tree  is  better  able  to  refill  the  wind.  The  palm-tree 
grows  very  high  in  one  ftem,  and  is  not  of  a  proportionable  bulk.  The 
timber  is  porous,  and  that  which  is  moft  folid,  has  fomething  of  the  coarfe 
grain  of  the  oak  of  New  England  ;  but  it  lafts  a  great  while  in  all  infide 
work  of  rafters  and  the  like.  It  is  rarely  uied  for  boards,  except  about 
Faiume,  where  the  trees  are  large.  It  has  this  peculiarity,  that  the  heart 
of  the  tree  is  the  fofteft  and  leaft  durable  part,  the  outer  parts  being  the 
moft  folid  ;  fo  that  they  generally  nie  the  trees  intire  on  the  tops  of  their 
houfes,  or  divide  them  only  into  two  parts.  A  fort  of  bough  fhoots  out, 
and  bears  the  fruit  in  a  kind  of  fheath,  which  opens  as  it  grows.  The 
male  bears  a  large  bunch,  fomething  like  millet,  which  is  full  of  a  white 
flower,  and,  unlefs  the  young  fruit  of  the  female  is  impregnated  with  it, 
the  fruit  is  good  for  nought;  and,  to  fecure  it,  they  tie  a  piece  of  this 
fruit  of  the  male  to  every  bearing  branch  of  the  female.  Strabo  obferves, 
that  the  palm-trees  in  Judea  did  not  bear  fruit,  as  at  prefent ;  which  pro- 
bably may  be  owing  to  their  not  having  the  male  tree ;  concerning  which 
I  could  get  no  information  ;  but  the  fruit  of  the  female  tree,  without  the 
male,  drops  off,  or  comes  to  no  perfection.  About  Damafcus  I  faw  a  firing 
of  figs  tied  almoft  to  every  fig-tree,  and  was  told  that  they  were  the  male 
fig,  placed  there  for  the  fame  purpofe,  as  the  male  date  is  tied  to  the  fe- 
male. The  fruit  of  the  date,  when  frefh,  eats  well  roalled,  and  alfo  pre- 
pared as  a  fweet-meat.  It  is  efteem'd  of  a  hot  nature,  and,  as  it  comes  in 
during  the  winter,  being  ripe  in  November,  providence  feems  to  have  de- 
fign'd  it  as  a  warm  food,  during  the  cold  feafon,  to  comfort  the  ftomach, 
in  a  country  where  it  has  not  given  wine.  It  is  proper  to  drink  water  with 
it,  as  they  do  in  thefe  countries,  and  fo  it  becomes  a  good  corrective  of 
that  cold  element.  From  the  date  they  draw  a  tolerable  fpirit,  which  is 
ufed  much  by  the  Chriftians  in  upper  Egypt.  In  thefe  upper  parts  of  Egypt 
Th.£Dome,  they  have  a  palm-tree  call'd  the  Dome.  The  ftem  does  not  grow  high, 
palm.  DUt  there  foon  fhoot  out  from  it  two  branches,  and  from  each  of  them  two 
others,  and  fo,  for  four  or  five  times,  each  branch  divides  into  two.  The 
s  leaf 


ON  EGYPT, 

leaf  is  of  a  femicircular  figure,  about  three  feet  diameter,  and  is  very  beau- 
tiful. The  fruit  is  oval,  about  three  inches  long,  and  two  wide.  The 
flefh  on  it  is  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick;  but  it  is  dry  and  hufty, 
having  fomething  of  the  tafte  of  ginger-bread  :  They  therefore  make  holes 
in  it,  and  moiften  it  with  water.  Under  this  there  is  a  fhell,  and  within 
that  a  large  kernel,  which  is  hollow  within ;  fo  that,  making  a  hole  through 
it  when  it  is  green,  it  ferves  for  a  fnuff-box,  and  turn'd  when  dry,  makes 
very  fine  beads,  that  have  a  polifh  like  marble  :  They  are  much  ufed  by 
the  Turks,  who  bring  them  from  Mecca.  This  tree,  with  its  fruit  and 
leaves,  is  reprefented  in  the  feventy-fecond  and  feventy-third  plates :  It 
comes  neareft  to  the  palm  of  Brafil,  with  the  folding  or  fan-leaf ;  but,  as 
it  branches  out  into  feveral  limbs,  it  differs  from  any  that  I  can  find  have 
ever  been  defcribed  :  I  have  therefore  call'd  it  the  Thebaic  palm. 


CHAP.  IX. 

Of  the  Animals  of  Egypt. 

'"■  ''HERE  are  not  a  great  variety  of  four-footed  beafts  in  Egypt. 
The  tyger,  the  Dubber,  or  Ahena  are  very  rare,  except  that  there 
are  fome  few  near  Alexandria.  The  fox  and  hare  are  of  a  light 
colour ;  the  latter  are  not  very  common.  About  Alexandria,  and  in  other 
parts,  the  antelopes  are  common ;  they  have  longer  horns,  and  are  more  beau- 
tiful than  the  antelopes  of  other  countries.  The  animal  call'd  by  Europeans 
Pharaoh's  rat,  has  been  thought  to  be  the  Ichneumon.  In  the  deferts,  as  I 
went  to  Suez,  I  faw  the  holes  of  an  animal  call'd  Jerdaon,  which  I  thought 
might  be  it ;  but  I  omitted  to  be  fully  inform'd  about  it :  'Tis  faid,  they 
are  in  all  parts  of  Egypt.  The  milch  kind  are  large  and  red,  with  very 
fhort  horns,  fuch  as  are  commonly  reprefented  in  antient  facrifices  ;  they 
make  ufe  of  them  to  turn  the  wheels  with  which  they  draw  water,  and 
to  plow  their  land;  they  have  alfo  a  large  Buffalo,  which  is  not  mifchie- 
vous,  as  the  fmall  fort  in  Italy.  They  are  fo  impatient  of  heat,  that  they 
ftand  in  the  water  with  only  their  nofes  out  to  breathe ;  and,  where  they 
have  not  this  convenience,  they  will  lie  all  day  wallowing  in  mud  and  wa- 
ter, like  fwine.  In  Cairo,  all  but  the  great  people  mount  affes;  they  are 
a  fine  large  breed,  and  it  is  faid  there  are  forty  thoufand  in  that  city. 

It  hath  been  often  obferved,  how  wonderfully  the  camel  is  fitted  to  travel  Camels; 
through  deferts  in  hot  countries,  where  they  will  go  eight  days  without 
water.  1  have  been  a  witnefs  of  their  travelling  four  days  without  drink- 
ing. They  can  live  on  fuch  little  fhrubs  as  thofe  deferts  produce,  without 
grafs,  and  are  fatisfied  with  a  very  little  corn,  which  travellers  commonly 
carry  ground  into  meal ;  and,  tempering  it  with  water,  they  cram  them 
with  large  balls  of  it.  They  go  about  two  miles,  or  two  miles  and  a  half, 
in  an  hour,  and  I  have  travelled  on  them  fixteen  hours  without  flopping. 
A  fmaller  fort,  call'd  Hayjin,  pace  and  gallop  very  fwiftly ;  and  it  is  con- 
fidently amrm'd,  they  will  carry  one  perfon  a  hundred  miles  in  a  day. 
Thefe  feem  to  be  what  we  call  dromedaries,  there  being  none  of  thofe 
with  two  bunches,  that  I  could  ever  be  inform'd  of,  in  thefe  countries ; 

and 


2o8  OBSERVATIONS 

-and  I  have  fince  been  told,  that  they  are  a  breed  of  Tartary,  for  the  people 
here  never  heard  of  them.  The  Arabs  do  not  kill  the  camel  for  food,  but 
the  great  Turks  eat  the  flefh  of  the  young  camel,  as  a  moft  delicate  difh; 
but  will  not  permit  it  to  be  eaten  by  Cbriftians,  probably  that  the  breed 
may  not  be  deftroy'd.  Before  the  great  heat  comes  on,  they  have  a  me- 
thod of  preparing  them  againft  it,  by  befmearing  their  bodies,  to  preierve 
them  againft  the  effects  of  the  heat.  The  flefhy  foot  is  admirably  well 
fitted  for  travelling  on  the  hot  fands,  which  would  parch  and  deftroy  the 
hoof ;  and  it  is  faid,  before  they  begin  a  long  journey,  in  which  they  will 
be  obliged  to  go  feveral  days  without  water,  they  accuftom  them  to  it  by 
degrees,  before  they  fet  out,  by  keeping  them  from  drinking. 
Horfes.  'j'hg  horfes  here  are  very  fine,  efpecially  thofe  of  upper  Egypt,  being  of 
the  Arab  and  Barbary  race.  They  have  one  great  fault,  which  is,  that  their 
necks  are  generally  too  fhort ;  and  they  value  horfes  here  as  they  do  their 
women,  for  the  largcnefs  of  their  bodies.  They  are  wonderfully  trafla- 
ble  :  Their  four  legs  are  always  trammelled,  in  the  ftable  and  field  ; 
they  do  not  feem  to  know  that  they  can  kick ;  they  walk  well,  never  trot, 
and  gallop  with  great  fpeed,  turn  fhort,  and  flop  in  a  moment  ,■  but  they 
are  only  fit  to  walk  in  travelling,  cannot  perform  long  journies,  and  they 
ufually  flop  and  give  them  water  every  hour  or  two,  and  very  feldom  feed 
them  more  than  once  in  a  day  When  they  go  in  procefllon,  their  trap- 
pings are  exceeding  fine ;  the  ornaments  are  of  filver,  or  filver  gilt,  it  be- 
ing contrary  to  their  law  to  ufe  gold,  even  fo  much  as  for  rings,  unlefs  for 
the  women,  whofe  dowry,  as  1  obferved  before,  confifts  in  thofe  things, 
which  they  wear  as  ornaments.  In  the  heat  of  fummer,  when  there  is  no 
grafs,  they  give  their  cattle  chopped  ftraw.  They  fpread  out  the  corn, 
when  reap'd,  and  an  ox  draws  a  machine  about  on  it;  which,  together 
with  the  treading  of  the  ox,  feparates  the  grain  from  the  ftraw,  and  cuts 
the  ftraw.  It  is  a  piece  of  timber  like  an  axle-tree,  which  has  round  it 
three  or  four  pieces  of  thin  fharp  iron,  about  fix  inches  deep,  which  cut 
the  ftraw.  In  Syria,  they  often  tread  out  the  corn  with  oxen  only,  and 
then,  if  they  would  cut  it,  an  ox  draws  over  the  ftraw  a  board  about  fix 
feet  long,  and  three  wide,  in  the  bottom  of  which  are  fix'd  a  great  num- 
ber of  fharp  flints;  the  perfon  that  drives  round  the  ox,  ftanding  on  this 
inftrument. 

Reptiles.        Among  the  reptiles,  the  vipers  of  Egypt  are  much  efteem'd  in  phyfick ; 

they  are  yellowifh,  of  the  colour  of  the  fand  they  live  in,  and  are  of  two 
kinds,  one  having  a  fort  of  horns,  fomething  like  thofe  of  fnails,  but  of 
a  horny  fubftance :  They  are  the  Ceraftes  of  the  antients.  The  lizard  alio 
is  yellow ;  and  in  the  deferts  towards  Suez,  they  have  a  fmall  lizard  dif- 
ferent from  the  common  kind,  having  a  broader  head  and  body  than  the 
others.  They  have  alfo  the  Stinc  Marin  in  great  abundance ;  and  about 
the  walls  there  is  a  very  ugly  lizard,  which  is  fomething  like  a  crocodile. 
Thefe  are  in  great  quantities  about  the  walls  of  Alexandria.  As  to  theWorral, 
having  procured  one  alive,  I  could  not  perceive  that  it  is  affeded  with  mu- 
fick.  It  is  of  the  lizard  kind,  four  feet  long,  eight  inches  broad,  has  a 
forked  tongue,  which  it  puts  out  like  a  ferpent,  and  no  teeth ;  living  on  flies 
and  lizards.  It  is  a  harmlefs  animal,  and  is  found  only  during  the  hotteft 
feafons,  and  frequents  grottos  and  caverns  in  the  mountains  on  the  weft 
of  the  Nile,  where  it  fleeps  during  the  winter  feafon. 


O  N    E  G  Y  P  T.  aop 

The  oftrich  ought  to  be  mention'd  firft  among  the  winged  tribe  of  the 
country ;  it  is  call'd  in  Arabic  Ter  Gimel,  and  in  modern  Greek  Xrgsbo- 
m^iriXoQ,  both  fignifying  the  camel  bird,  by  reafon  that  its  neck  and  head, 
and  likewife  its  walk  are  fomething  like  the  Camel's.  This  bird  is  common 
on  the  mountains,  fouth  weft  of  Alexandria  ;  the  fat  of  it  is  fold  very 
dear  by  the  Arabs,  and  is  ufed  by  the  doctors  as  an  ointment  for  all  cold 
tumours,  is  good  for  the  palfy  and  rheumatifm ;  and,  being  of  a  very  hot 
nature,  is  fometimes  prefcribed  to  be  taken  inwardly,  for  difbrders  of  cold 
conftitutions.    As  thefe  birds  are  in  the  deferts  beyond  Alexandria,  fo  the 
Arabs  bring  much  of  it  to  that  city,  and  they  have  a  method  of  putting  the 
dead  body  of  an  Oftrich  in  motion  in  fuch  a  manner,  as  to  make  the  fat 
diffolve  into  a  fort  of  oil,  which  they  fell  as  a  drugg,  and  is  call'd  The  fat 
of  the  oftrich.    They  have  a  kind  of  domeftic  large  brown  hawk,  with  a 
fine  eye,  which  moftly  frequents  the  tops  of  houfes ;  and  one  may  fee  the 
pidgeons  and  the  hawks  ftanding  clofe  to  one  another.    They  are  not  birds 
of  prey,  but  eat  flelfi  when  they  find  it :  The  Turks  never  kill  them,  and 
feem  to  have  a  fort  of  veneration  for  thefe  birds,  and  for  cats,  as  well  as 
their  anceftors;  among  whom  it  was  death  to  kill  either  of  thefe  animals.  It 
has  been  commonly  faid,  that  a  legacy  was  left  by  fome  great  Mahometan, 
to  feed  thefe  animals  in  Cairo  every  day,  and  that  even  now  they  regale 
them  with  fome  of  the  entrails  of  beafts,  that  are  kill'd  for  the  fhambles  ; 
but  on  enquiry  I  found  this  to  be  a  miftake.    The  antient  Egyptians,  in 
this  animal,  worfhipped  the  fun,  or  Ofiris  ;  of  which  the  brightnefs  of  its 
eyes  were  an  emblem.    They  have  alfo  a  large  white  bird,  with  black 
wings,  fhaped  like  a  crow,  or  raven,  but  very  ugly,  and  not  at  all  fhy;  it 
lives  much  in  the  fame  manner  as  the  hawk,  and  is  call'd  by  Europeans 
Pharaoh's  hen.    They  have  likewife  a  beautiful  white  bird,  like  a  ftork, 
but  not  half  fo  big,  call'd  by  Europeans  The  field  hen,  being  feen  about 
the  fields  like  tame  fowl.    The  fmall  brown  owl,  mention'd  by  Herodotus, 
about  the  fize  of  a  pidgeon,  is  very  common.    They  have  likewife  a  fmall 
fpeckled  bird,  near  as  big  as  a  dove,  call'd  Ter  Chaous  (the  meflen- 
ger  bird)  which  would  be  efteem'd  a  beautiful  bird,  if  it  were  not  very  com- 
mon, and  a  foul  feeder :  It  has  on  the  top  of  its  head  a  tuft  of  feathers, 
which  it  fpreads  very  beautifully  whenever  it  allights  on  the  ground.  In  the 
mountains  there  are  a  great  number  of  vulturs,  and  fome  eagles.  Among 
the  birds  worfhipped  by  the  Egyptians,  the  Ibis  was  had  in  great  venera- 
tion, becaufe,  as  it  is  faid,  they  deliver'd  the  country  from  a  great  quan- 
tity of  Serpents,  which  bred  in  the  ground  after  the  Nile  retired.    It  is  of 
thefe  and  the  hawks,  (among  the  birds   that  the  embalmed  bodies  are 
chiefly  found  preferved  in  earthen  vafes :  I  faw  the  figures  of  them  on  the 
temples  in  upper  Egypt ;  and  from  the  defcription  we  have  of  them,  they 
are  of  the  crane  kind.    I  faw  a  great  number  of  this  fort  of  birds  on  the 
iflands  in  the  Nile,  being  moftly  greyifh.    Herodotus  defcribes  two  kinds ; 
the  black,  which  I  never  faw,  and  the  other  with  black  wings  and  tail, 
which  feems  to  be  a  fort  of  ftork  :  Thefe  I  have  feen,  tho'  the  moft  com- 
mon are  a  greyifh  kind.    There  is  a  very  beautiful  bird  of  this  fort,  call'd 
Belfery :  The  male  has  a  black  beak  and  leg,  and  black  feathers  about  the 
wings ;  they  have  a  large  crooked  bill,  with  which  they  can  take  their  food 
only  out  of  the  water.    The  legs,  bill,  and  eyes  of  the  female  are  a  fine 
Vol.  I.  H  h  h  red; 


OBSER V  A  TIONS 

red  ;  and  in  the  wings  and  tail  are  intermix'd  fome  red  feathers,  which 
make  it  very  beautiful,  efpecially  when  it  fpreads  its  wings. 

They  have  great  numbers  of  wild  geefe  of  a  different  kind  from  thofe 
in  Europe:  They  are  call'd  Bauk;  and  when  they  are  fent  into  England, 
are  known  by  the  name  of  Baw-geefe.  Great  quantities  of  wild  ducks  fre- 
quent the  pools  in  low  grounds,  which  are  not  dry  till  two  or  three  months 
after  the  Nile  has  left  the  upper  lands.  Quails  are  in  great  abundance. 
They  have  the  woodcock,  fnipe,  and  Beccafigo ;  which  laft  is  much  e- 
fteenVd.  A  wild  brown  dove  frequents  the  houfes,  which  being  very  fmalL 
is  not  deftroy'd.  The  pidgeon-houfe  is  reckon' d  a  great  part  of  the  eftate 
of  the  hufbandman:  They  are  often  built  round,  with  little  turrets  riling 
up  all  over  the  top,  and  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  profpect  of  a  country 
village.  The  different  forts  may  be  feen  in  the  eighth  plate:  G.  fuch  as  are 
at  Delta  ;  E.  thofe  of  Benefuief,  and  F.  thofe  about  Akmim.  They  have 
a  proverb  or  faying,  That  a  man,  who  has  a  pidgeon-houfe,  need  not  be 
careful  about  the  difpofal  of  his  daughter.  The  partridge  in  this  country 
is  very  different  from  that  of  other  parts ;  the  feathers  of  the  female  are 
like  thofe  of  a  woodcock,  and  the  male  is  a  beautiful  brown  bird,  of  the 
colour  of  fome  wild  doves,  but  adorn'd  with  large  fpots  of  a  lighter  co- 
lour: They  are  about  the  fize  of  a  fmall  dove.  They  have  no  pheafants 
in  Egypt.  The  bats  in  the  old  buildings  are  remarkably  large,  and  from 
the  end  of  one  wing  to  the  end  of  the  other,  many  of  them  are  in  extent 
above  two  feet,  if  the  account  I  had  be  true. 

If  1  was  rightly  inform'd,  they  have  an  extraordinary  cuftom  in  relation 
to  their  bees  in  upper  Egypt.  They  load  a  boat  with  the  hives,  at  a  time 
when  their  honey  is  fpent ;  they  fall  down  the  ftream  all  night,  and  take 
care  to  flop  in  a  place  by  day,  where  the  diligent  animal  may  have  the  op- 
portunity of  colle&ing  its  honey  and  wax ;  and  fo,  making  a  voyage  of  fix 
weeks  or  two  months,  they  arrive  at  Cairo,  with  plenty  of  honey  and  wax, 
and  find  a  good  market  for  both.  There  is  another  ftory,  the  truth  of 
which  may  be  much  fufpe£ted,  relating  to  a  manner  of  catching  ducks  on 
the  river ;  which  is  by  putting  the  head  into  a  pumpkin  Ihell,  and  walking 
in  the  river,  only  with  the  head  above  water  cover'd  in  this  manner ;  the 
duck  not  being  alarm'd  at  the  light  of  a  pumpkin,  the  man  approaches 
the  game,  and  takes  them  by  the  legs. 


A  DE- 


ON  EGYPT. 


2.II 


A 

DESCRIPTION 

O  F 

The  EA  ST,  &c. 


BOOK  V. 

Mifcellaneous  Subjects,  chiefly  relating  to 
the  Antiquities  and  Natural  Hiftory  of 
Egypt. 


chap.  I. 

Of  fome  Antiquities  and  antient  Weights  brought  from 

Egypt. 

THE  two  ftatues  of  Ills  and  Ofiris,  reprefented  in  the  fixtieth  and 
three  following  plates  were  in  the  houfe  of  an  Italian  merchant  at 
Cairo,  who  could  give  no  account  from  what  part  they  came,  but 
was  fo  obliging  as  to  part  with  them.  They  are  of  a  very  clole  free  ftone ; 
the  ftatues  as  they  fit,  are  about  two  feet  high,  that  of  Ifis  is  about  half 
an  inch  higher  than  the  other ;  the  plinth  of  the  ftatue  of  Ifis  is  four  inches 
and  three  quarters  thick,  the  other  only  four;  I  never  faw  any  ftatues  or 
drawings  in  fuch  a  pofture  before,  and,  what  is  very  remarkable,  the  E- 
gyptians  at  this  day  will  fit  in  this  manner,  without  refting  on  any  thing 
but  their  hams,  for  an  hour  together,  when  they  are  abroad,  or  have  not 
the  conveniency  of  a  carpet  to  lit  on.  Thefe  ftatues  feem  to  be  of  fo  great 
antiquity,  that  it  is  probable  they  were  made  before  fculpture  came  to  its 
greateft  perfection  in  Egypt.  They  appear  to  be  both  cloathed  with  a  gar- 
ment that  fits  clofe  to  the  body.  Ifis  is  reprefented  in  the  fixtieth  and  fixty-  The  (lame 
firft  plates:  The  ftatue  of  the  goddefs,as  it  was  proper,  is  of  the  finer  work-  of 
manfhip;  the  feet  are  more  delicate ;  there  is  fomething  beautiful  in  the  make 

of 


212  OBSERVATIONS 

of  the  body  ;  the  woman's  breafts  plainly  appear  at  the  fide,  and  the  body 
might  be  thought  to  be  reprefented  naked,  if  it  did  not  appear  otherwife 
at  the  ankles;  however,  it  feenis  to  be  an  exceeding  fine  garment,  fit- 
ted clofe  to  the  body  ;  it  might  be  fomething  like  the  gawze,  which  is 
worn  by  the  ladies  at  this  day  in  the  eaft  for  their  under  garments.  Hie- 
roglyphics are  cut  like  an  infcription  on  the  robe  that  comes  down  before ; 
the  deep  bracelets  on  the  arms  are  very  broad,  and  fhe  has  a  fiftrum  in 
the  left  hand,  on  which  is  cut  the  head  of  Ifis,  which  has  on  it  the  ears 
of  the  cat.  It  has  three  firings  or  wires,  which  are  to  be  fuppofed  loofe  in 
it,  each  end  being  bent  on  the  outfide,  to  keep  it  in  its  place;  on  each  of 
them  are  two  rings,  which  feem  to  be  juft  big  enough  to  move  about  the 
wire;  on  the  upper  firing  there  might  be  three;  thefe  are  the  rings  that  made 
the  mufick:  It  feems  to  have  been  an  inftrument  for  beating  time,  like  the 
Nakous  they  ufe  in  Egypt  at  this  day,  which  I  have  before  defcribed.  What 
is  on  the  head  is  an  extraordinary  drefs;  perhaps  made  of  leaves,  which 
are  doubled  one  over  another,  as  appears  by  the  ends  of  the  lower  part ; 
it  is  to  be  fuppofed  that  the  Lote  flower  adorns  the  forehead.  Something 
very  particular,  like  a  Bulla,  comes  out  from  the  ears,  and  might  probably 
hang  on  them  ;  the  hair  appears  beneath  this  drefs  on  the  forehead  and 
temples ;  and  all  round  behind,  beneath  the  head-drefs,  plaited  as  in  the 
other.  It  may  be  no  great  compliment  to  lay  that  in  the  beauty  and  de- 
licacy of  the  workmanfhip,  efpecially  in  the  fide  view,  the  artift  has  ex- 
ceeded the  Egyptian  workman,  who  it  may  be  lived  three  thoufand  years 
ago;  though  we  are  not  to  defpife  fuch  uncommon  remains  of  antiquity, 
but  to  fet  a  value  on  them ;  as  we  fee  in  fuch  pieces  thefe  noble  arts  in 
their  infancy;  and  by  confidering  the  different  workmanfhip  of  different 
ages,  we  may  obferve  how  arts  gradually  improved,  till  at  length,  under 
the  Greeks,  they  came  to  the  greateft  perfection,  which  their  matters  the 
Egyptians  were  too  opinionative  to  learn  of  their  fcholars. 
The  flame  1  he  ftatue  of  Ofiris,  as  it  appears  in  the  fixty-iecond  and  fixty  third 
of  Ouris.  piateS)  is  diftinguifh'd  by  a  fort  of  Thyrfus  in  the  hand,  as  it  feems  to  be ; 
though  fomething  different  from  any  thing  of  that  kind  ,•  the  hands  come 
through  the  garment  in  a  very  particular  manner ;  the  fluting  of  what 
muft  be  look'd  on  as  the  garment  before,  on  which  the  hieroglyphics  are 
cut,  may  anfwer  to  fome  manner  of  plaiting,  and,  if  it  be  the  garment, 
and  is  reprefented  after  nature,  it  muft  be  in  imitation  of  a  very  thick  fluff, 
as  it  ftands  out  at  a  diftance  from  the  legs ;  or  fome  art  muft  have  been 
ufed  for  that  purpofe.  The  fattening  of  the  fandals  over  the  inftep  is  very 
large,  and  appears  on  it  like  iron  bolts;  and,  what  is  very  extraordinary,  the 
fandal  is  not  feen  at  bottom,  fo  that  probably  the  leather  or  fole  of  the 
fandal  was  antiently  fo  fmall  as  not  to  appear  ;  there  is  a  delicacy  alfo  in  the 
feet  of  this  figure.  The  manner  of  plaiting  the  hair  is  very  extraordi- 
nary in  this  ftatue,  and  there  feem  to  be  two  or  three  plaits  one  over  an- 
other. It  may  be  doubted,  if  what  appears  under  the  ears  be  hair,  as  it  is 
entirely  finooth,  and  has  not  the  fame  appearance  as  the  other,  or  whether 
it  was  any  mode  of  drefs ;  it  might  be  rather  thought  the  latter,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  prefs  forward  that  which  feems  to  be  the  lower  part  of  the  ear,  for 
fo  much  of  the  ear  does  not  appear  as  to  fliew  the  focket  of  it,  thofe  holes 
feeming  to  have  been  cut  after  the  ftatue  was  made.  The  hair  likewife  plaited 
down  the  forehead  is  to  be  obferved ;  and  I  have  feen  thofe  of  the  Molotto 
4  race 


ON  EGYPT. 

race  in  Egypt,  lately  come  out  of  Ethiopia,  who  have  their  hair  plaited 
much  in  the  fame  manner,  and  coming  over  their  foreheads.  This  fta- 
tue  has  a  pilafter  to  fupport  it  behind,  on  which  there  are  hieroglyphics 
cut. 

The  morfels  of  antiquity  in  the  fixty-fourth  plate,  except  one  or  two, 
were  found  at  Coptos.    They  are  almoft  all  made  hollow  within  of  earthen 
ware,  and  were  poilibly  the  Lares,  or  houfhold  Deities,  of  the  common 
people,  hung  up  in  their  houles,  a  fort  of  amulets  to  defend  them  againft 
evil;  for  moft  of  them  have  holes  at  the  top  for  that  purpofe:  They  are 
reprefented  pretty  near  the  real  fize  of  them,  except  that  the  entire  figure, 
which  I  fuppofe  is  a  Priapus,  is  feven  inches  long ;  it  is  in  every  other  re- 
fpect  exactly  as  it  is  reprefented.    The  cap  fomewhat  refembles  the  turbant 
without  the  fafh  round  it ;  and  yet  it  feems  to  join  to  a  garment  that  flows 
down  behind,  coming  only  over  the  left  arm,  fomething  in  the  manner  of 
the  eaftern  cloak,  with  a  coul,  as  the  eafterns  are  fometimes  reprefented 
in  drawings.     He  has  a  fort  of  Thyrfus  in  his  left  hand,  and  to  the  right 
is  a  pot  of  flowers,  the  emblem  of  this  garden  God.    The  figure  B.  has 
a  very  extraordinary  head-drefs,  and  the  hair  tied  up  in  a  roll  appears  over 
it.     The  hair  of  the  figure  C.  is  tied  up  in  a  rofe  on  the  poll  ;  the  orna- 
ment feems  to  be  a  leaf,  and  may  be  the  indented  mulberry  leaf.    It  is 
doubtful  what  is  the  head-drefs  of  the  figure  D.    I  conjedure  it  to  be  the 
lote  flower.  E.  is  much  diftorted  both  before  and  behind,  and  one  would 
imagine  it  to  reprefent  fome  evil  being.    F.   is  a  very  elegant  double 
head  of  Ifis,  being  cut  exaclly  the  fame  on  both  fides ;  it  is  of  a  brown 
ftone,  painted  with  a  beautiful  green.    The  manner  of  the  hair,  the  gar- 
ment, and  an  ornament  up  from  the  moulder  to  the  fide  of  the  head, 
which,  though  it  is  broke,,  appears  to  have  continued  on  to  another  orna- 
ment over  the  head,  which  is  gone,  arp  all  Co  be  particularly  taken  no- 
tice of.     It  appears  to  have  had  no  arms,  the  work  ending  at  the  fhoulder, 
and  fo  probably  was  a  ftnall  buft,  or  might  be  placed  on  fomething  as  an 
ornament.    G.  is  of  a  black  ftone,  and  is  a  very  rude  unfmifh'd  groupe  ; 
but  perhaps  may  be  the  only  piece  of  antiquity  of  the  kind,  reprefenting 
the  fight  of  a  pigmy  and  a  crane,  which  appears  from  the  proportion  they 
bear  to  one  another.    I  do  not  know  what  head  the  figure  H.  reprefents; 
it  fomewhat  refembles  that  little  amulet,  fo  frequently  found  in  Egypt, 
that  is  like  a  horfe's  head,  a  drawing  of  which  may  be  feen  near  it  in  the 
fame  plate.    I.  in  bronze,  feems  to  be  a  flave  at  fome  work;  it  is  the  moft 
humble  pofture  they  fit  in  at  this  day,  and  inferior  perfons  fit  in  this  man- 
ner before  great  men;  and  poflibly  from  this  the  fupplicant  pofture  of 
kneeling  might  have  its  rife. 

The  ftatue  of  Harpocrates,  of  the  fame  fize,  as  reprefented  in  the  fixty- 
fifth  plate,  is  in  the  pofleffion  of  Dr.  Mead,  and  was  lately  brought  from 
Egypt.  It  is  of  a  white  ftone  or  marble  ;  I  bought  exadlly  fuch  a  one  at 
Coptos,  only  rough  hewn  out ;  it  has  the  high  cap,  part  of  which  tliis 
has  loft;  the  ornament  on  the  forehead  may  be  the  lote  flower.  There  are 
feveral  things  to  be  particularly  remarked  about  it,  as  the  beads  round  the 
neck,  and  a  Bulla  hanging  down  from  them ;  the  firing  of  beads  on  the 
other  fide  is  not  at  prefent  to  be  feen.  The  ornament  about  the  upper 
part  of  the  arm,  and  that  under  the  beads,  one  would  imagine,  were  de- 
figned  as  a  fort  of  covering  of  the  breaft,  being  altogether  extraordinary, 
Vol.  I.  I  i  i  and 


£14 


OBSERVATIONS 

and  it  poflibly  may  be  fomething  emblematical ;  there  are  alfo  bracelets  on  the 
vvrifts,  which  feem  to  have  been  adorn'd  with  beads ;  in  the  right  hand  he 
holds  the  crofs,  which  is  fo  common  in  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics.  As  the 
ftatue  is  made  with  one  leg  before  the  other,  and  it  was  neceffary  to  give 
a  fide  view  to  fhew  thefe  ornaments,  the  other  foot  could  not  be  fhewn, 
and  it  does  not  appear  to  that  advantage  it  would  do  otherwife.  The 
hair  is  plaited  and  brought  to  the  left  fide,  as  in  moft  of  the  ftatues  of 
Harpocrates.  Among  the  feals  I  found  in  Egypt  (the  moft  remarkable  of 
which  are  in  this  plate)  there  are  four  or  five  of  the  Abraxas  kind,  ufed 
by  the  Gnoftics,  being  a  mixture  of  Paganifm  and  Chriftianity  ;  they  have 
generally  a  legend  on  the  reverfe,  and  are  of  no  great  confequence.  Two 
of  the  feals  moft  remarkable  are  of  very  bad  workmanfhip,  one  may  be 
an  aftronomer;  on  the  other,  which  has  very  particular  characters  on  it, 
one  feems  to  be  playing  on  a  mufical  inftrument,  and  another  holds  fome- 
thing very  particular  in  his  hands,  which  it  may  be  difficult  to  explain. 
I  met  with  ftveral  other  pieces  of  antiquity,  but,  as  they  are  fuch  as  have 
been  defcribed  before,  I  thought  it  of  no  ufe  to  give  drawings  of  them. 

I  made  a  collection  in  Egypt  of  above  fifty  antient  weights ;  they  are 
moft  of  them  of  the  common  figure  reprefented  at  A.  in  the  fixty-fifth 
plate;  two  of  them  are  as  reprefented  at  B.  and  one  as  at  C.  in  the  fame 
plate.  I  weigh'd  them  all  with  great  exadtnefs,  and  have  herewith  given 
a  table  of  them. 

A  Table  of  Weights  found  in  Egypt. 


N° 

Oz. 

Gr. 

N° 

Oz. 

i->. 

Gr. 

N° 

Oz. 

dwc. 

Gr. 

I 

9 

5 

23 

19 

I 

14 

36 

00 

9 

23-f 

J9% 

2 

9 

3 

'  20 

I 

9 

8 

37 

00 

9 

3 

4 

'7 

44 

f  21 

I 

5 

234; 

38 

00 

9 

15 

4 

4 

J3 

Ifii 

*22 

I 

1 

39 

00 

9 

a  5 

4 

1 1 

!7 

»-3 

on 

'9 

224 

40 

00 

9 

14 

*  6 

2 

16 

20 

24 

00 

19 

22  ' 

4i 

00 

9 

7 

2 

2 

22 

25 

00 

'9 

igi 

42 

00 

9 

10 

8 

18 

1 1 

26 

00 

19 

104 

43 

00 

9 

9*. 

9 

18 

6 

27 

00 

J9 

2i 

44 

00 

9 

9i 

10 

18 

3 

28 

00 

'9 

1 1 

45 

00 

9 

7i 

1 1 

18 

i 

29 

00 

19 

s 

46 

00 

9 

34 

12 

J7 

22 

3° 

00 

19 

3 

47 

00 

8 

18 

13 

'7 

i6i 

31 

00 

19 

3 

48 

00 

8 

1 

14 

]7 

iZi 

32 

00 

18 

23 

49 

00 

5 

2ii 

J5 

'7 

2i 

33 

00 

18 

23 

5° 

00 

5 

!3* 

7i 

'16 

l7 

2-i 

34 

00 

18 

184 

51 

00 

5 

»7 

4 

"35 

00 

16 

7-5 

52 

00 

1 

'18 

23 

Befides  thefe,  there  is  a  weight  of  Verd  antique,  about  an  eighth  of  which 
is  broken  off,  and  it  weighed  twenty-three  ounces,  twelve  penny  weight, 
and  eleven  grains  5  fo  that  probably  it  was  a  weight  of  about  twenty-eight 
ounces. 


*  This  is  of  iron,  and  of  twelve  fides,  as  re- 
prefented in  the  fixty-fifth  plate  at  B.  it  has  fix 
ltamps  on  each  fide  of  the  four  fquare  fides,  and 
one  on  each  of  the  other  fides. 

b  This  weight  is  a  flat  octagon,  it  has  feven 
marks  on  one  fide,  and  four  on  the  other,  and 
two  circles  round  each  fide. 

c  This  is  of  the  fliape  of  number  five,  has  five 
flamps  on  the  four  fquare  fides,  and  one  on  the 
reft. 

.d  Is  as  number  fix,  but  has  a  crofs  on  it,  and 


thefe  letters  r  B. 

e  This  is  an  octagon  alfb,  but  feems  older  than 
the  other. 

f  This  weight  has  twenty-four  fides,  excepting 
the  top  and  the  bottom,  and  has  two  rings  and  a 
ftamp  on  each  of  the  twenty-four  fides,  as  repre- 
fented in  the  fixty-fifth  plate  at  C. 

«  This  is  of  Verd  antique,  and  has  thefe  marks 
on  it  y  A- 

h  Is  a  fquare  weight,  has  a  crofs  on  it,  and 
[jf3  tp,  and  does  not  fcem  to  be  very  antient. 

CHAP. 


ON  EGYPT. 


CHAP.  II. 

Of  the  antient  Architecture  of  Egypt. 

^  H  '  H  E  architecture  of  Egypt  may  be  look'd  on  as  among  the  firft 
§  efiays  in  that  noble  art.  It  was  in  a  ftyle  peculiar  to  themlelves,  in 
which,  notwithftanding,  we  may  trace  the  origin  of  many  things  we  lee 
in  the  moft  improved  architecture.  As  the  Egyptians  boafted  themfelves  to 
be  the  inventors  of  all  arts  and  fciences,  this  gave  them  a  ftiffnefs  and 
pride,  which  made  them  refufe  to  receive  the  improvements,  the  Greeks 
and  other  nations  made  on  their  inventions  ;  fo  that,  excepting  at  Alexan- 
dria and  Antinoopolis,  there  is  nothing  to  be  feen  in  Egypt  of  the  Greek 
architecture.  In  fome  places,  we  obferve  this  art  in  the  greateft  fimpli- 
city,  only  contrived  for  ufe,  and  without  any  ornaments,  and  may  fee  how 
it  improved  by  degrees,  and  at  kit  arrived  at  fuch  a  perfection,  as  might 
eafily  give  the  hint  to  the  Greeks  for  the  Corinthian  order,  unlefs  we  fup- 
pofe  that  they  might  imitate  that  order  ;  which  I  do  not  think  probable, 
as  thefe  temples  feem  to  have  been  built  before  that  order  was  ufed  in 
Greece,  and  alfo  as  the  Egyptians  feem  to  have  thought  themfelves  above 
imitating  the  inventions  of  other  people  ;  for  there  feems  to  be  nothing 
approaching  to  any  other  order  of  architecture,  unlefs  the  mouldings  of  the 
capital  B.  may  be  thought  a  little  to  refemble  the  Doric. 

The  ground  is  fo  much  rifen,  that  I  could  not  come  to  any  certainty  with 
regard  to  the  height  of  their  pillars  :  And  feveral  members  of  them,  and 
of  the  cornices  being  inacceflihle  heights,  and  fn  fmall,  that  they  could 
not  be  determined  by  the  quadrant,  and  having  in  truth,  fometimes  omit- 
ted fome  meafures  I  might  have  taken,  on  account  of  the  hurry  I  was  of- 
ten obliged  to  do  things  in,  and  the  interruptions  I  met  with ;  I  could 
not,  for  thefe  reafons,  give  an  exact  draught  of  them  by  fcale,  but  to  fup- 
ply  this  defect,  I  have  mark'd  the  feveral  members,  and  given  a  table  of 
fuch  meafures  as  I  took  of  them.  This  will  give  an  idea  of  the  Egyptian 
architefture  ;  and  as  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  imitated,  or  made  a  fcience 
of,  fo  a  more  exact  account  will  he  the  lefs  wanted,  and  more  eafily  ex- 
cufed,  when,  under  all  the  difadvantages  of  a  traveller  in  Egypt,  it  would 
have  been  producing  fomething  new,  to  have  given  draughts  of  them  only 
by  the  eye. 

As  the  Egyptian  buildings  were  cover'd  with  long  ftones  about  three  feet  Coverings  of 
wide  and  deep,  and  fourteen  feet  long,  this  made  a  great  number  of  pil-  thebulld,nss- 
lars  necefiary  in  all  their  cover'd  buildings.  If  the  pillars  were  next  to  the 
wall  in  a  portico,  they  laid  a  ftone  from  one  pillar  to  another,  by  the 
length  of  the  portico,  and  then  laid  ftones  acrofs  from  that  ftone  to  the 
wall,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  fecond  plate  of  pillars ;  but,  if  there  were  ma- 
ny rows  of  pillars  in  a  room,  they  laid  ftones  acrofs  the  pillars,  by  the 
breadth  of  the  building,  to  give  the  room  a  lighter  air,  and  then  they  laid 
ftones  on  them,  with  which  they  cover'd  the  building  by  the  length  of  the 
room,  and  fometimes  they  placed  a  fquare  ftone  on  the  capital,  to  make 
the  room  ftill  higher;  as  may  be  feen  in  the  drawing  of  the  temple  of 
Ombus,  in  the  fiftieth  plate. 


The 


ai6  OBSERVATIONS 

Bafes.  The  bafe  or  pedeftal  of  the  pillar  was  round,  the  corners  being  taken  off 

at  the  edge ;  it  had  a  focket  in  it,  to  let  in  the  pillar,  as  reprcfented  in  the 
feet  ion  of  the  bafe.  In  the  firft  plate  of  pillars,  there  are  very  few  of  thefe 
bafes  to  be  feen ;  that  at  Hajar  Silcily,  to  a  pillar  two  feet  two  inches  dia- 
meter at  bottom,  was  four  feet  diameter,  fo  that  it  projected  beyond  the 
pillar  eleven  inches,  and  was  ten  inches  deep.  As  the  manner  of  building 
obliged  them  to  have  a  great  number  of  pillars,  fo  they  might  find  this 
kind  of  bafe  moft  convenient,  as  a  fquare  one  would  be  more  apt  to  break 
at  the  corners,  and  offend  thofe  that  walk'd  in  the  temples;  tho'  it  is  very 
probable,  that  many  of  their  pillars,  efpecially  within  their  temples,  were 
without  any  bafe,  for  the  conveniency  of  walking  between  them  ;  as  the 
pillars  of  the  temples  of  Minerva  and  Thefeus,  at  Athens.  It  has  been  alffj 
found  out,  that  the  obelifks  were  placed  on  fuch  bafes  or  pedeftals,  and  let 
into  a  focket,  which  made  the  railing  of  them  much  eafier  than  on  a  high 

Pillars.  pedeftal,  as  they  are  placed  in  Rome.  The  chief  intention  of  pillars,  in 
Egyptian  buildings,  being  to  fupport  a  weighty  covering,  it  was  neceffary 
they  fhould  be  very  ftrong:  It  is  probable,  in  the  moft  antient  times,  they 
might  not  have  found  out  the  ufe  of  granite,  or  the  art  of  cutting  it,  which 
is  the  only  marble  I  obferved  to  be  the  product,  of  Egypt,  and  fit  for  making 
pillars  of  one  ftone,  which  could  not  be  lefs  than  three  or  four  feet  dia- 
meter, for  the  purpofe  mentioned  ;  and  it  would  have  been  very  difficult 
to  have  convey'd  fuch  pillars  from  the  catarafts,  where  the  granite  quarries 
are,  to  the  feveral  parts  of  Egypt.  The  freeftone  they  had  near,  in  all  their 
hills,  which  they  made  ufe  of  for  their  columns,  cutting  out  the  ftones  of 
the  diameter  of  the  pillar,  and  from  one  foot  fix  inches,  to  three  feet  fix 
inches  in  thicknefs.  Thefe  columns  were  from  three  feet  to  eleven  feet 
diameter ;  and  they  were  fo  very  thick,  that  I  concluded,  their  height 
might  be  from  about  three  diameters,  or  at  moft  three  and  a  half,  to  four 
and  a  half.  I  had  reafon  to  think  that  this  was  generally  the  height  of 
their  pillars,  tho'  fometimes,  but  rarely,  they  were  fix  diameters  in  height, 
and  the  intercolumnation  one  diameter  and  a  half,  or  two,  for  the  moft 
part  ;  fometimes  two  and  a  half,  and  three,  tho1  very  rarely.  And,  if  in 
the  middle  of  a  room,  fome  intercolumnations  were  wider,  they  procured 
ftones  of  a  proportionable  length,  to  lay  from  pillar  to  pillar.  The  pil- 
lars were  often  adorn'd  with  hieroglyphics,  and  thefe  fometimes  painted. 
They  had  fome  multangular  pillars,  tho'  very  rare  ;  and  thofe  confifting  of 
fixteen  fides,  as  at  the  temple  of  Thebes,  fomething  refembling  the  antient 
pillars  I  have  feen  fhaped  in  that  manner,  in  order  to  be  fluted;  which 
was  the  method  the  antients  took  to  flute  their  columns,  as  I  fhall  have 
occafion  to  mention  in  another  place.  One  of  the  firft  improvements 
on  plain  pillars,  were  a  fort  of  fwellings  about  feven  feet  from  the  top,  and 
leflening  again  towards  the  capital,  which  confifted  only  of  a  fquare  ftone ; 
inftances  of  which  may  be  feen  in  the  firft  plate  of  pillars.  It  is  pofiible, 
this  fort  of  fwelling,  inverted,  might  give  rife  to  the  firft  capitals  made 
in  fhape  of  a  bell.  The  next  improvement  feems  to  have  been  the  addi- 
tion below  this  of  four  members,  being  a  fmall  fegment  of  a  circle,  as  in 
Numb.  4.  Poffibly  thefe  might  give  rife  to  the  annulet  in  the  capital,  of 
the  Doric  order ;  by  which  name  I  fhall  therefore  call  them.  Another 
manner  of  architecture  was  the  working  the  upper  part  of  the  pillar,  that 
fwells  out  as  defcribed,  into  eight  half  rounds.  In  fome  pillars  a  fort  of 
«  fhields 


ON  EGYPT.  ar 

fhields  cover  the  lower  part  of  the  joinings  of  thefe  half  rounds,  as  irl 
Numb.  7.  In  others,  two  rows  cover  the  joinings  of  two  half  rounds,  and 
the  two  next  are  cover d  by  a  fhield,  as  above  ;  and  fo  all  round  alternate- 
ly, as  may  be  feen  in  Numb.  6.  The  lower  part  of  that  fort  of  pillars 
is  likewife  divided  into  eight  half  rounds,  which  I  conjectured,  in  fome; 
to  be  about  one  third,  in  others  two  thirds  of  the  pillar,  according  to 
the  length  of  the  members,  between  this  part  and  thofe  I  have  mention' d 
before ;  for  in  fome  pillars,  above  thefe,  there  are  three  fuch  members,  but 
fmaller,  over  each  of  the  great  ones,  as  in  Numb.  6.  which  is  at  Luxerein ; 
in  others,  befides  thefe  three  members,  there  is  a  larger  over  the  joinings 
of  the  lower  member,  as  in  Numb.  7.  which,  if  I  miftake  not,  is  at  the1 
temple,  eaft  of  Carnack;  and  in  the  fifth,  the  triglyphs  feem  to  be  conti- 
nued down,  as  under  thofe  members,  with  a  particular  lift  coming  down  be- 
tween them  to  the  middle  of  the  half  rounds  below ;  and  the  fecond  pil- 
lar is  work'd  all  the  way  down  in  fuch  a  manner,  as  this  part  of  Numb.  7i 
is  executed  ;  that  is,  with  three  fmall  half  rounds,  or  rods,  and  one  large 
one.  Another  fort  of  pillars  are  thofe  at  Archemounain,  in  the  twenty- 
fourth  plate.  I  obferved  particularly,  that  they  leffen'd  towards  the  bot- 
tom. The  pillars  at  Hajar-Silcily  are  almoft  the  fame,  and  the  only  co- 
lumns I  faw  entirely  to  the  bottom ;  thofe  pillars  are  three  feet  diameter, 
near  four  in  the  fwelling,  and  at  bottom  leflen  to  two  feet  two  inches,  and 
may  be  feen  in  the  forty-feventh  plate.  The  pillar,  Numb.  8.  has  the  four 
annulets  under  the  capital,  the  reft  being  plain ;  it  is  in  the  grand  area  of 
the  temple  of  Carnack,  Numb.  0,  and  to.  in  the  fecond  plate  of  pillars, 
are  cut  among  the  hieroglyphics  on  the  gate  that  is  north  of  the  temple  of 
Carnack.  Numb.  11,  is  at  the  temple  eaft  of  Carnack,  and  I  imagine  it 
to  be  fome  imitation  of  the  palm-tree.  Thofe  horizontal  members,  or 
annulets,  fomewhat  refemble  the  tree  when  the  boughs  are  cut  off,  and 
therefore  it  would  have  been  more  like  the  palm-tree,  if  thofe  members 
had  been  continued  all  down ;  and,  if  I  am  not  miftaken,  I  have  feen  fuch 
a  drawing  of  a  pillar  in  Egypt.  Numb.  12.  has  this  particular  in  it, 
that  the  ftalks  of  the  leaves,  and  thofe  between  them,  are  carried  down 
below  the  annulets  of  the  pillars.  Numb.  13.  is  a  pillar  of  red  granite, 
at  Baal-bait,  the  old  Bufiris.  I  faw  the  capital,  as  reprefented,  and  a  part 
of  the  pillar,  being  work'd  into  a  fort  of  a  half  round,  in  the  manner  that 
is  fhewn  below  the  capital,  and  another  part  I  faw  of  it  being  plain,  I  con- 
jectured, that  this  might  be  part  of  the  head-drefs  of  Ills,  continued  down, 
as  it  is  in  the  capital  of  Dendera.  The  capitals  of  the  feven  firft  are  only  capitals, 
a  fquare  ftone ;  it  is  very  probable,  that  a  fquare  ftone,  at  firft  laid  on  the 
pillars,  to  give  the  building  a  lighter  air,  might  give  rife  to  the  capital.  In 
fome  pillars,  thefe  capitals  do  not  project  at  all,  in  others  a  very  little:  They 
are  from  one  foot  to  three  feet  thick.  The  capitals,  of  the  bell  kind,  have 
often  been  thought  to  be  an  imitation  of  a  vafe  fet  on  a  pillar,  with  leaves 
twining  about  it ;  but  a  view  of  the  capitals  of  Egypt,  would  incline  one 
rather  to  think,  that  it  was  the  imitation  of  the  top  of  a  tree,  and  that  pro- 
bably the  palm,  the  boughs  of  which  point  upwards,  and  much  refem- 
ble a  capital,  when  all  the  lower  boughs  are  cut  off,  as  they  are  common- 
ly every  year,  and  poffibly  the  palm-trees,  faid  to  be  cut  in  Solomon's  tem- 
ple, might  be  pillars,  or  at  leaft  pila1^'  rs  of  this  kind,  fo  much  refem- 
bling  the  palm-tree.  The  moit  fimple  foit  of  capitals  of  this  bell  kind,  are 
Vol.  1.  K  k  k  of 


218  OBSERVATIONS 

of  the  great  pillars  in  the  temple  of  Luxerein,  without  any  fillet,  round 
at  the  top,  as  reprefented  at  A.  in  the  plate  of  capitals.    The  fecond  fort 
is  that  of  the  pillar  Numb.  i.  which  has  the  addition  of  the  fillet,  and  is 
feen  at  Carnack.    Of  the  fame  fort  is  the  next  to  it,  cut  among  the  hiero- 
glyphics of  the  gate  north  of  that  temple;  and  the  next  to  that,  cut  like- 
wife  on  the  fame  gate,  is  the  mod  fimple  of  the  foliage  kind.    The  third 
capital  C.  in  the  plate  of  capitals,  is  of  an  extraordinary  nature  ;  it  is 
poflible,  the  ornament  may  be  in  imitation  of  fome  leaf  or  flower.  The 
only  pillars  of  this  kind  are  at  Gaua.    The  fourth,  D.  is  probably  the  firfb 
manner  of  adorning  the  capital,  being  cut  in  lines,  and  without  any  re- 
lief.   The  fifth,  E.  at  the  antient  Siene,  is  of  a  particular  kind  ;  and  on  part 
of  it,  there  is  fomething  like  the  ornament  of  that  at  Gaua:  This  and  the 
following,  as  well  as  fome  others,  are  work'd  at  top  in  four  fegments  of  a 
circle  ;  and  it  may  be  confider'd,  whether  it  were  not  in  imitation  of  fome 
leaf.    The  lixth,  F.  is  at  Efne,  and  is  very  beautiful,  tho'  the  relief  is  very 
flat ;  and  fo  are  many  others  in  the  fame  temple.    The  feventh  capital,  G. 
is  of  a  very  particular  kind,  and  beautiful,  and  is  feen  only  in  the  fmall 
fquare  temple  at  Philae.     The  large  capital  H.  at  Amara,  the  old  Ten- 
tyra,  with  the  head  of  Ifis,  and  compartments  of  bas-  reliefs  over  them,  are 
of  excellent  fculpture,  and  muft  be  reckon'd  among  the  fineft  workman- 
fhip  of  Egypt ;  each  capital  confifting  of  four  fuch  faces,  one  on  each 
fide,  with  the  compartments  of  reliefs  over  them.    I  look  upon  them  only 
as  two  fquare  ftones  laid  on  the  pillars,  and  adorn'd  in  this  manner  ;  but, 
from  the  great  perfection  of  them,  I  fhould  imagine  they  are  the  work  of 
a  Greek  hand ;  the  reliefs  being  in  the  higheft  Greek  tafte.    The  other 
faces  at  Philae,  over  the  capital,  and  the  Deity  cut  on  the  fquare  ftone,  over 
the  capitals  of  a  fmall  temple  at  Amara,  which  is  Numb.  14.  of  the  pil- 
lars, are  only  to  be  look'd  upon  as  ornaments  of  thole  ftones ;  and  the 
capitals  under  them  I  met  with  in  fome  other  places,  not  having  taken 
drawings  of  the  particular  capitals,  that  belong'd  to  thole  pillars. 
Entablature.     Thefe  ftones  laid  on  the  capital,  feem  to  have  given  rife  to  the  faces  of 
the  architrave,  (fo  call'd  from  being  the  chief  beam  that  fupported  the  co- 
vering of  the  building,)  and  to  the  freeze,  a  ftone,  or  part  of  a  ftone,  that 
ranged  round  the  building,  being  adorn'd  with  fculptures  of  animals  and 
other  things,  was  on  that  account,  call'd  by  the  Greeks  and  Latins  Zopho- 
rus,  which  was  the  name  of  the  Zodiac;  adorn'd,  it  may  be,  with  the  figns 
of  the  Zodiac  and  other  ornaments,  encompaffing  the  building,  as  the  Zodiac 
the  Heavens ;  and  probably  it  was  this  part  of  the  tomb  of  Ofymanduas 
that  was  adorn'd  with  a  golden  circle,  three  hundred  and  fixty-five  cubits 
in  compafs,  divided  into  fo  many  parts,  to  reprefent  the  days  of  the  year, 
with  the  riling  and  fetting  of  the  ftars,  and  other  things  relating  as  well 
to  the  Egyptian  aftrology,  as,  to  what  was  more  real,  the  aftronomy,  for 
which  they  were  fo  famous.  Some  buildings  being  cover'd  with  two  tier  of 
ftones,  the  under  ftone  probably  was  the  freeze ;  or,  where  there  was  only 
one,  the  lower  part  of  it  might  be  left  for  that  member,  as  the  upper  part 
was  always  moulded  into  the  cornice  or  Coronis,  that  crown'd  the  building  j 
and  where  two  or  three  fingle  ftones  were  placed  over  the  capital,  the 
lowermoft  being  work'd  with  the  feveral  faces  of  the  architrave,  and  the  up- 
per ones  being  the  freeze,  and  cornice  and  the  ftone,  laid  acrofs  to  fupport  the 
covering  moulded  into  another  cornice ;  accounts  for  the  fingle  entablature 

to 


ON    EGYPT.  219 

to  every  pillar,   which  has  often  a  very  beautiful  effect:  in  archite- 
cture. 

Cornices,  or  ornaments  round  the  top  of  their  buildings,  feem  at  firft  Cornices 
to  have  been  very  fimple,  being  probably  only  a  ftone  projecting  all  a- 
long,  beyond  the  reft  of  the  building,  as  Numb.  1 .  in  the  plate  of  cor- 
nices. This  at  length  was  rounded,  as  Numb.  z.  and  this  round  member 
was  often  continued  down  the  quoins  of  the  building.  This  ftone  on  the 
very  top  of  the  building,  might  afterwards  be  made  thicker,  and  be  work'd 
in  an  inclined  plane,  fo  as  to  end  in  a  line  at  the  wall  below  ;  and,  as  a  far- 
ther improvement,  this  lower  part  might  be  hollow'd  into  a  Cavetto,  with  a 
fillet  at  bottom,  that  was  afterwards  improved  into  a  half  round:  And  this  is 
the  moft  univerfal  cornice  that  was  in  ufe  in  Egypt,  and  is  likewife  feen  cut 
on  the  rocks  and  grottos  about  Jerufalem ;  particularly  on  that  which  is  call'd 
The  tomb  of  Zachariah.  The  Cavetto  was  fometimes  fluted,  and  the 
flutes  alfo  in  fome  were  continued  on  to  the  lift  over  it,  as  Numb.  8. 
and  there  are  inftances  of  Cavettos  fluted  in  this  manner,  without  any 
member  over  them ;  of  this  kind  is  Numb.  9.  The  cornice,  or  entabla- 
ture of  the  granite  room,  at  the  temple  of  Carnack,  has  a  member  or  freeze 
under  the  half  round,  ornamented  in  a  peculiar  manner,  and  a  fillet  un- 
der it,  work'd  alfo  as  reprefented  at  Numb.  1  j.  There  are  a  great  variety 
of  other  cornices  or  entablatures,  fome  of  which  are  in  the  manner  of 
two  cornices,  one  over  another;  and  freezes  are  frequently  feen  adorn'd 
with  hawks,  and  thofe  dragons  or  ferpents,  that  are  reprefented,  as  draw- 
ing the  car  of  Ceres.  Numb.  19.  with  a  fort  of  triglyphs,  and  metopes,  ad- 
orn'd with  Pateras,  and  two  fillets,  ornamented  with  ftars,  and  a  fecond 
kind  of  freeze,  or  rather  architrave,  with  the  Crux  anfata,  and  two  hawks 
fitting  on  each  fide  of  the  end  of  a  fort  of  bow  inverted  is  in  the  middle 
of  the  infide  of  a  gate,  to  the  eaft  of  the  great  temple  of  Amara,  the  old 
Tentyra.  Moft  of  thefe  cornices,  that  are  particular,  are  feen  only  in  one 
place,  efpecially  thofe  of  Aflbuan,  Kept,  Luxerein,  Amara,  Numb.  15. 
of  Carnack,  the  Labyrinth,  Efne,  and  Gaua. 

The  doors  had  generally  a  plain  pilafter  on  each  fide,  and  fometimes  Doors." 
a  plain  member,  over  the  door,  correfponded  to  it;  but  the  moft  com- 
mon ornament  over  them  is  that  cornice,  which  I  obferved  is  moftly  ufed  in 
Egypt.  Some  door-places  have  a  half  round  on  the  outfide,  taking  off 
the  angles,  and  another  at  about  the  diftance  of  eighteen  inches,  as  at  the 
angle  of  the  pilafter. 

As  to  the  fculpture  of  the  Egyptians,  both  of  hieroglyphics  and  pillars,  Sculpture 
and  the  laft  finifhing  of  their  works;  they  feem  to  have  been  executed  after 
the  building  was  completed,  which  made  them  work  in  their  figures  on 
plain  ftones,  by  cutting  them  in  below  the  furface  of  the  ftone,  either  with 
a  plain  bottom,  or  with  a  relief,  the  higheft  part  of  which  confequently 
muft  be  either  on  a  level  with  the  furface  of  the  ftone,  or  fomething 
lower.  I  faw  a  pillar  unfinifh'd  at  the  temple  eaft  of  Carnack,  and  it 
may  be  queftioned  whether  the  multangular  pillar  was  not  defign'd  to  be 
in  fixteen  half  rounds,  that  being  the  method  which  they  antiently  took 
in  marking  out  pillars  to  be  fluted ;  and  over  the  eaftern  gate  of  Carnack, 
1  faw  a  ftone  left  rough,  as  to  cut  out  the  winged  globe,  an  ornament 
which  is  feen  fo  often  in  all  their  buildings.  We  may  fee  alfo  among  the 
Egyptians,  what  might  have  given  rife  to  the  arch,  though  there  is  great 

reafon 


1 


210 


OBSERVATIONS 


The  arch,  reafon  to  think  they  were  ignorant  of  this  curious  and  ufefulpart  of  archi- 
tecture, as  it  was  afterwards  executed,  becaufe  it  is  hardly  ever  feen  among 
their  buildings,  I  mean  thofe  covers  made  by  the  projection  of  feveral  tiers 
of  ftone,  one  beyond  another ;  for,  if  thefe  ftones  had  been  only  fhaped 
each  of  them  in  a  fegment  of  a  circle,  the  arch  would  have  been  made, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  arch  was  this  way  hit  on  ;  the  only  difference 
between  this  architecture  and  that  of  the  arch,  feeming  to  be  in  laying  the 
upper  ftones,  efpecially  the  middle  one,  which  is  called  the  key  ftone,  that 
being  laid  fiat  on  the  two  uppermoft  tiers,  whereas,  in  the  arch,  it  muft 
be  put  in  between  them :  For  the  reft,  making  them  lefs  towards  the  outward 
fuperficies  than  they  are  within,  and  laying  the  lower  tiers  fo  as  not 
to  project  fo  much,  and  the  upper  tiers  more,  the  arch  would  be  executed 
only  by  lhaping  the  ftones  in  the  manner  aboranention'd.  It  is  poflible, 
that,  at  fome  time  the  ftones  in  making  fuch  a  covering  might  not  be 
laid  level,  and  making  an  inclin'd  plane  on  each  fide  at  top,  when  they 
came  to  clofe  all,  they  might  find  it  neceflary  to  hew  a  ftone  to  fit  the  place 
in  fuch  manner,  as  to  come  near  to  the  nature  of  a  key  ftone,  and  in  time 
they  might  come  to  make  all  the  ftones  bigger  at  one  end  than  at  the  other, 
as  finding  it  to  give  ftrength  to  this  fort  of  building.  It  is  indeed  pof- 
fibie,  that  the  arch  might  be  firft  invented  by  other  accidents,  as  the  rifing 
of  the  ground  of  a  city  where  the  gates  were  made  of  very  large  ftones, 
with  ftrait  tops,  and  there  being  occafion  to  have  higher  doors  or  gates, 
they  might  make  them  more  lofty,  by  cutting  the  top  into  an  arch  ;  and 
at  Thebes  in  Greece,  I  faw  a  fmall  gate  that  confifted  of  an  arch  only  of 
two  large  ftones,  which  might  poffibly  have  been  made  higher  in  this 
manner,  after  the  building  of  the  gate.  In  all  Egypt  I  did  not  fee  above 
three  or  four  arches,  of  which  1  have  given  an  account  in  the  relation  of 
the  antiquities  of  this  country;  and  I  fuppofe  them  to  have  been  made 
after  the  Greeks  came  among  them.  It  is  the  more  furprizing  they  fhould 
not  hit  on  it,  as  they  found  out  the  fhell  of  the  niche,  which  approaches 

Private      fo  very  near  to  it.    Amidft  all  the  publick  magnificence  of  the  Egyptians, 

Buildings.       ,        I  ,  ,  .  ,     ,        f  .        .        °,     .,  ,.  b/r  > 

there  is  great  reafon  to  think  that  their  private  buildings  were  very  mean, 
and  perhaps,  their  habitations  in  thofe  antient  early  times,  when  thefe  fum- 
ptuous  fabrics  were  erected,  might  be  chiefly  tents  and  grottos;  there  being 
ho  fign  of  private  buildings  all  over  the  great  extent,  which  antient 
Thebes  took  up;  and  without  doubt  thofe  Kings,  who  beftow'd  fo  much 
on  their  temples  and  fepulchres,  would  likewife  have  erected  magnificent 
palaces  for  themfelves,  if  it  had  been  the  cuftom  of  the  times ;  of  which, 
doubtlefs,  we  muft  have  had  fome  remains ;  but  of  this  kind,  only  one  is 
mention'd,  of  which  we  have  any  certain  account,  and  that  is  the  laby- 
rinth, which  was  deiign'd  too  for  a  public,  as  well  as  in  fome  manner, 
for  a  facred  ufe,  as  it  had  relation  to  the  religion  they  profeffed.  The 
palace  oi  Memnon  is  indeed  fpoken  of  at  Abydus ;  but  the  mention  of  it 
is  very  flight,  and  there  are  no  figns  or  traditions  of  any  thing  there,  but 
a  temple.  And  this  may  account  for  the  extreme  magnificence  of  the  pub- 
lic buildings  in  Egypt,  if  we  confider  that  all  their  expences  were  beftow'd 
this  way,  to  make  their  facred  buildings  the  moft  lafting  and  magnificent 
that  the  art  of  man  could  poffibly  execute. 

I  have  hereto  added  the  table  of  the  meafures  of  the  Egyptian  pillars. 

A  Table 


1 


ON  EGYPT.  22t 

A  Table  of  the  meafures  of  the  Egyptian  pillars,  according  as  they  are 
engraved  in  two  plates.  The  firft  line  of  numbers  refers  to  the  pillars 
in  the  plates ;  the  letters  to  the  feveral  members  of  the  pillars ;  the  other 
numbers  being  the  meafures  of  feet  and  inches,  anfwering  to  the  num- 
bers of  the  pillars,  and  the  letters  of  the  refpeftive  numbers. 

I      2       3      4       $       6         7      8      9  101112 

»  °        O  I  8     2  OO    2  o      3  02       3         7        4  I      oo    oo  oo 

b        °       0        7061030     5  06     4       4706     00    00  00 
33  o    5  00    1  4     o  00     o       0003     00    00  00 


d 


00 


o    o  00    o  5      o  064    03    00    o  34    00  00 


00 


f        o       o       00  o    o  08    o  64 


00  o    o  00    2  3     3  10     4  o    o  o    4  1     00    00  00 


4  00     000041      00    00  00 


g       o       o       00  o    o  00    o  o     7  00     000000     00    00  00 
Diameter    o       7611040050      000      803030     04    04  00 
Suppofed  -\ 
modules  /  , 

of  half  a  (°  o  o  07  o  8  00  o  o  o  00  12  o  10  00  00  00  06 
diameter.) 

I  meafured  feveral  parts  of  the  pillars  at  Luxerein,  to  fee  in  what  pro- 
portion they  leffen  and  fwell. 
^  Meafuring  one  on  the  half  rounds  below,  it  was  ten  feet  nine  inches  in 
circumference;  on  fome  members  higher,  it  was  eleven  feet;  and  on  the 
annulets,  ten  feet  feven  inches. 

Another  pillar  was  in  circumference  on  the  half  rounds  clofe  to  the  ca- 
pital, ten  feet  fix  inches  j  lower,  on  the  fwell,  twelve  feet  five  inches ;  on 
the  annulets,  ten  feet  four  inches. 

And  in  the  furthermoft  court,  I  find  thefe  meafures  of  one  pillar  in 
inches  204,  231,  23  y,  241.  Another  pillar  meafured  at  the  annulets  fe- 
venteen  feet,  at  the  bottom  of  the  half  rounds,  nineteen  feet  three  inches, 
at  the  top  of  the  next  half  round  members,  nineteen  feet  five  inches,  and, 
in  the  greateft  fwell,  twenty  feet  and  one  inch. 

The  great  pillars  at  Luxerein,  which  belong  to  the  capital  D.  are  one 
and  thirty  feet  in  circumference,  and  about  that  height  above  ground, 
including  the  capital;  and  have  a  fquare  plinth  on  the  top  of  the  capi- 
tal, as  thofe  at  Carnack,  on  which  probably  fome  ftatues  were  placed,  as 
it  may  be  fuppofed,  they  were  on  the  capitals  of  the  pillar  of  the  grand 
area  at  Carnack. 


CHAP.  III. 

Of  the  Mythology  of  the  antient  Egyptians. 

AS  the  mythology,  or  fabulous  religion  of  the  antient  Egyptians,  may 
be  look'd  on,  in  a  great  meafure,  as  the  foundation  of  the  Heathen 
religion,  in  moft  other  parts ;  fo  it  may  not  be  improper  to  give 
fome  account  of  the  origin  of  it,  as  it  is  deliver'd  by  the  moft  antient 
authors,  which  may  give  fome  light  both  to  the  defcription  of  Egypt,  and 
alfo  to  the  hiftory  of  that  country.  We  may  fuppofe  that  the  antients  were 
the  beft  judges  of  the  nature  of  their  religion,  and,  confequently,  that  all 
interpretations  of  their  mythology,  by  men  of  fruitful  inventions,  that  have 
v°l-  I-  L  1  1  no 

1 


222 


OBSERVATIONS 


no  fort  of  foundation  in  their  writings,  are  forced,  and  fuch  as  might  ne- 
ver be  intended  by  them,  On  the  contrary,  it  is  neceffary  to  retrench  fe- 
deral things  the  antients  themfelves  feem  to  have  invented,  and  grafted  on 
true  hiftory ;  and,  in  order  to  account  for  many  things,  the  genealogies  and 
alliances  they  mention,  muft  in  feveral  refpefis,  be  falfe  or  erroneous,  and 
feem  to  have  been  invented  to  accommodate  the  honours  of  the  fame 
Deities  to  different  perfons,  they  were  pleafed  to  deify,  who  lived  at  dif- 
ferent times ;  and  fo  they  were  obliged  to  give  them  new  names,  invent 
genealogies,  and  fome  different  attributes  ;  which  may  account,  in  fome 
meafure,  for  the  fuppofition  I  make  below,  that  Deities  with  different 
names,  all  mean  the  feme  objeft  of  worfhip,  as  the  fun  or  moon,  which 
might  be  worfhipped  firft  as  Ofiris  and  Ifis,  when  they  were  deified,  or 
under  the  name  of  fome  others  deified  before  them  in  the  fame  manner ; 
for  Diodorus  fays,  that  the  Egyptians  learnt  of  the  Ethiopians  to  have  their 
Kings  for  Gods,  that  is,  to  deify  their  Kings ;  for  it  appears  very  plainly 
from  the  antients,  that  their  Gods  were  their  good  Kings,  whom  they  dei- 
fied. Herodotus,  indeed,  would  add  a  dignity  to  thofe  Deities,  by  laying, 
that  the  Gods  lived  on  the  earth  with  men,  and  ruled  over  them.  He 
fpeaks  of  the  three  orders  of  Gods;  the  firft  and  oldeft  were  eight  in  num- 
ber, among  whom  Pan  was  of  the  firft,  as  Hercules  was  of  the  fecond,  and 
Dionyfius  of  the  third  order.  Diodorus  Siculus  indeed  mentions  celeftial 
and  terreftrial  Gods ;  under  the  former  he  reckons  Ofiris,  Ifis,  Jupiter, 
Vulcan,  Ceres,  the  Ocean,  and  Minerva ;  but  fays  there  were  alfo  terreftrial 
Gods  of  the  fame  name.  Thefe  celeftial  Gods  he  makes  to  be  the  fun 
and  moon,  the  four  elements,  and  the  foul  of  the  world,  that  enlivens  all 
things.  Ofiris  is  the  fun,  Ifis  the  moon,  Jupiter  the  enlivening  force, 
Vulcan  fire,  Ceres  the  earth,  Ocean  with  the  Egyptians  was  the  Nile,  Mi- 
nerva the  air  ;  and  it  is  to  be  fuppofed  that  thefe,  with  Pan,  mention'd 
by  Herodotus,  made  up  the  number  of  the  eight  firft  Gods.  It  is  alfo 
thought,  that  one  great  foundation  of  this  religion  was  worfhipping  the  fun 
and  the  planets,  and  the  figns  of  the  Zodiac ;  and  fo  they  afterwards  made 
conftellations  of  their  Kings,  and  gave  the  fun  and  the  planets  the  names 
of  thofe  they  look'd  on  as  their  benefaaors ;  and  to  the  figns  of  the  Zo- 
diac the  names  of  thofe  animals  they  worfhipped,  for  the  reafons  men- 
tion'd by  the  antients.  Our  author  goes  on  to  obfervc,  that  the  Egyptians 
had  a  right  before  any  other  people  to  thefe  Gods  (that  is,  as  he  muft  be 
underftood,  to  thofe  whom  they  call'd  by  the  names  of  their  Kings)  and 
wives  it  as  a  reafon,  why  it  may  be  fuppofed,  that  they  dwelt  moftly  a- 
momrft  them,  as  Egypt  only,  of  all  countries,  had  cities  built  by  the  Gods, 
and  call'd  after  their  names ;  particularly  of  Jupiter,  the  fun,  Hermes  or 
Mercury,  Apollo,  Pan,  Eilethyia  or  Diana,  whom  we  may  fuppofe  to  be 
the  feme  as  Ifis  or  the  moon,  as  Apollo  is  the  fame  with  Ofiris  or  the  fun; 
though,  according  to  fome  hiftories,  Apollo  is  made  the  brother  of  Ofiris, 
doubtle'fs  to  anfwer  fome  particular  fchemes  in  their  mythology.  He  fays, 
thefe  Gods  came  down  upon  earth,  and  fometimes  took  on  them  the  form 
of  facred  beafts,  fometimes  of  men,  and  fo  were  worfhipped  in  the  ftiape 
of  the  feveral  beafts  whofe  forms  they  affumed.  This  turn  they  gave  to 
the  worfhip  of  thefe  Deities,  in  order  to  add  a  greater  dignity  to  their  reli- 
gion ;  whereas,  in  reality,  they  feem  to  be  no  other  than  their  Kings  and 
great  men  deified,  who,  fome  way  or  other,  had  conduced  to  make  the 
a  life 


ON  EGYPT. 


life  of  mankind  more  comfortable  and  happy,  by  a  proper  ufe  of  the  ele- 
ments of  nature  in  general,  or  of  the  celeftial  bodies  in  particular,  that 
feem'd  to  have  the  greateft  influence  on  the  earth ;  which  they  either  be- 
gan to  worfhip  under  their  names,  or  to  worfhip  their  benefactors,  they 
had  deified,  and  to  give  them  the  names  of  thofe  things  they  had,  by  their 
government  or  inventions,  render'd  fo  beneficial  to  them :  For  he  goes  on 
to  give  an  account  of  the  terreftrial  Gods,  who,  he  fays,  by  the  ftrength  of 
their  underftanding,  and  by  their  beneficence  to  mankind,  had  acquired 
immortality,  as  a  recompence  of  their  extraordinary  merit.    Some  of  thefe 
were  Kings  of  Egypt;  but  they  feem  to  have  given  the  genealogy  of 
thefe  Kings,  as  much  as  could  be,  in  order  to  make  it  believed  that  the 
celeftial  Gods  were  different  from  them;  and  though  I  mail  give  an  ac- 
count of  their  genealogy,  yet,  notwithftanding,  I  conjecture  part  of  it  to 
be  mere  fiftion,  and  that  the  truth  is,  fuch  perfons  did  live  at  fome  time 
or  other,  but  not  juft  as  they  fix  it.    However,  thefe  we  muft  fuppofe  to 
be  the  twelve  Gods  of  the  fecond  rank,  of  which  he  only  at  firft  mentions 
the  eight  principal,  the  Sun,  Saturn,  Rhea,  Jupiter,  call'd  alfo  Ammon, 
Juno,  Vulcan,  Vefta,  and  Mercury.    He  fays,  the  Sun  reign'd  firft  in  E- 
gypt:  Herodotus  fays,  Menes  reigned  firft,  and  that  Pan  was  the  oldeft 
of  the  Gods,  and,  as  Mendes  was  another  name  of  Pan,  poflibly  Menes 
and  Pan  may  be  the  fame ;  and  alfo  the  celeftial  Ofiris,  which  is  the  Sun. 
But,  if  it  be  true,  as  Herodotus  fays,  that  Menes  built  the  temple  to  Vul- 
can in  Memphis;  this  may  be  an  argument  in  favour  of  the  priefts,  who 
affirm'd  that  Vulcan  was  the  firft  King.    Ofiris,  in  this  genealogical  ac- 
count of  the  Kings,  is  indeed  alfo  the  fon  of  Jupiter  and  Juno,  and  faid 
to  be  Bacchus.    But  as,  under  the  name  of  Menes,  he  drained  the  coun- 
try, and  made  lower  Egypt  habitable,  by  expofing  the  earth  in  proper 
time  to  the  kindly  influence  of  the  fun ;  and,  under  that  of  Bacchus,  cul- 
tivated the  vine,  by  the  help  of  the  fun,  the  juice  of  whofe  fruit  is  fuch 
a  comfortable  cordial  to  mankind ;  and  as,  under  the  name  of  Mendes  or 
Pan,  he  might  make  fome  orders  for  the  more  regular  propagation  of 
mankind,  and  of  animals  for  his  ufe,  all  under  the  prolific  influence  of 
the  fun,  fo  the  fame  perfon  or  Deity  might  be  worfhipped  in  different 
places  under  different  names  and  fbapes,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
particular  virtues  of  the  perfon  they  celebrated  in  thofe  places.  The 
worfhip  of  the  King  of  Egypt,  who  was  called  Vulcan,  and  of  fire  under 
his  name,  was  owing,  as  they  fay,  to  an  extraordinary  accident ;  a  wood 
happened  to  be  fet  on  fire  by  lightning  in  the  winter,  and  the  King  Hand- 
ing by  it,  perceived  that  it  gave  a  great  pleafure  to  enjoy  the  warmth  of 
it,  and  took  care  to  continue  the  ufe  of  fire,  which  we  may  fuppofe  till 
that  time  was  unknown. 

After  thefe,  Saturn  reign'd,  who  married  his  filler  Rhea,  the  fame  with 
Cybele  or  Magna  Mater;  though,  in  this  genealogy,  Ifis  is  faid  to  be  her 
daughter,  who  was  the  moon,  or  Diana,  and  had  the  city  Bubaftus  built 
to  her,  Bubaftis  being  the  Egyptian  name  of  Diana;  and  on  her  tomb 
fhe  is  reprefented  as  boafting  that  the  city  of  Bubaftus  was  built  in  honour 
of  her  +.  Cybele  feems  to  be  much  the  fame  as  Diana  of  Ephefus,  and  Ifis, 
among  the  celeftial  Gods,  is  the  moon;  it  is  poffible  that  the  moon  might 


f  'EjwoJ  BiGas®*  $  jreAir  wWopj&i;.  Diodorus  i.  p.  24. 


be 


OBSERVATION  S 


be  worfhipped  under  thefe  three  names,  as  having  an  univerfal  influence 
on  all  things.  Some  faid  that  Ofiris  and  Ins  were  the  children  of  Saturn 
and  Rhea,  but,  according  to  others,  Jupiter  and  Juno ;  and,  as  Herodotus 
fays,  that  the  Egyptians  did  not  know  the  name  of  Juno,  this  is  a  proof, 
how  much  the  invention  of  the  antients  was  employed  in  the  hiftory  they 
gave  of  their  Gods  ;  and  accounts  for  the  inconfiftencies  we  meet  with  in 
their  relations  of  them.  As  both  Minerva  and  Juno  have  been  faid  to  be 
the  air,  fo  they  might  alfo  be  the  fame  Deities,  under  different  names,  and 
likewife  Eilethyia  or  Diana,  though  the  daughter  of  Jupiter;  for  both 
Juno  and  Diana  are  called  Lucina,  and  may  be  the  fame  perfon.  Diana 
is  faid  to  be  the  daughter  of  Jupiter  by  Latona ;  poffibly  Jupiter  might 
after  marry  his  own  daughter,  who  might  then  be  called  Juno,  and  her 
mother  Latona  might  be  obliged  to  fly  to  Ortygia  from  the  refentment  of 
Juno ;  as  thefe  may  likewife  be  the  fame  with  Rhea,  on  the  above  fuppo- 
fition ;  and  if  it  may  be  fuppofed  to  have  been  fo,  all  thefe  alliances  and 
genealogies  muft  be  look'd  on  as  meer  fictions ;  and  this  Deity  multi- 
plied into  fo  many  fhapes,  muft  then  be  only  Rhea  or  Ills,  or  whoever  was 
the  firft  Deity  of  this  kind,  worfhipped  afterwards  under  different  notions, 
and  different  names. 

To  Jupiter  and  Juno  they  give  five  children,  Ofiris,  Ifis,  Typhon,  A- 
pollo,  and  Venus;  and  fo  Juno  might  be  called  the  mother  of  the  Gods 
(mater  Deum)  the  title  of  Cybele ;  and  here  they  make  Ofiris  Bacchus, 
and  Ifis  Ceres ;  fo  that  Ifis  might  comprehend  Rhea  and  Diana,  Juno 
and  Ceres.  By  the  name  of  Ceres,  fhe  was  the  inventrefs  of  tillage,  as 
Ofiris  was  of  wine,  under  the  title  of  Bacchus:  Ifis  alfo  is  faid  to 
have  enacted  laws  for  the  government  of  mankind.  Some  fay  Ofiris 
founded  Thebes,  though  others  mention  another  founder  of  this  city : 
Our  author  fays,  moreover,  that  he  built  a  temple  of  extreme  magnifi- 
cence, to  his  parents  Jupiter  and  Juno,  and  two  golden  temples,  one  to 
celeftial  Jupiter,  the  other  to  his  father  Jupiter  Ammon.  It  is  probable, 
that  one  Jupiter  was  worfhipped  long  before  this,  and  that  Ofiris  being 
the  fon  of  Ammon,  both  the  father  and  fon  might  be  deified;  and,  to 
give  a  dignity  to  their  new  God,  they  might  fay,  he  was  the  fon  of  Ju- 
piter, diftinguifh'd  by  the  title  of  his  real  father,  who  was  worfhipped 
under  the  fhape  of  a  ram.  As  to  the  Jupiter  of  the  Greeks,  who  was 
father  of  Minos  in  Crete,  both  of  them  great  Kings  over  fo  fmall  an  ifland, 
it  was  thought  to  be  doing  juftice  to  the  merit  of  Jupiter,  to  make  him  the 
chief  of  their  Gods;  that  they  might  have  Gods  of  their  own;  and  to  give  him 
the  name  by  which  they  call  the  Egyptian  Jupiter ;  without  doubt,  a  much 
more  antient  Deity  ;  as  Dsdalus,  the  architect  of  his  fon,  went  to  Egypt 
to  fee  the  labyrinth,  in  order  to  build  one  in  Crete  on  the  fame  model. 
Ofiris  and  Ifis  were  alfo  great  encouragers  of  arts,  and  of  thofe  who  in- 
vented weapons  to  kill  wild  beafts,  and  inftruments  to  till  the  land.  Ofiris 
being  educated  at  Nifa  in  Arabia  Fcelix,  had  the  name  of  Dionyfus  from 
that  place,  and  his  father  Dios ;  here  they  fay  he  learnt  the  culture  of  the 
vine.  He  had  the  greateft  regard  for  Hermes  or  Mercury,  a  perfon  of 
great  genius  in  inventing  whatever  might  be  for  the  conveniency  of  man- 
kind :  He  firft  corrected  the  language,  and  gave  names  to  feveral  things  ; 
it  was  he  that  invented  letters,  and  alfo  the  lyre  with  three  firings,  and 
taught  the  worfliip  of  the  Gods,  .and  facrifices,  all  forts  of  manly  exer- 


ON  EGYPT. 


cifes,  and  a  proper  carriage  and  deportment  of  the  body.  He  firft  obferved 
the  order  of  the  ftars,  and  the  nature  and  harmony  of  founds.  It  was  he 
or  fome  other  perfon  after  him,  worfhipped  under  his  name,  that  taught  the 
Greeks  the  art  of  fpeaking,  (it  maybefuppofed,  with  propriety  and  eloquence) 
on  which  account  they  gave  him  the  name  of  Hermes.  It  was  Mercury, 
and  not  Minerva,  as  the  Greeks  affirm,  that  found  out  the  ufe  of  the  olive; 
and  he  was  in  fo  great  favour  with  Ofiris,  that  he  was  his  fecretary,  it 
may  be  rather  faid  his  prime  minifter,  to  whom  he  communicated  every 
thing,  for  his  advice.  Ofiris  raifed  a  great  army  to  go  over  the  earth,  to 
communicate  his  improvements  to  all  the  world,  hoping  to  gain  immortal 
honours  by  his  benevolence  towards  mankind,  as  it  accordingly  happen'd; 
for  he  was  worfhipp'd  as  a  God,  by  thofe  whofe  lives  he  had  render  d  fo 
much  more  happy  than  they  were  before.  He  left  to  Ifis  the  care  of  his 
kingdom,  and  appointed  Mercury  to  be  her  counfellor;  he  alfo  left  his 
relation  Hercules  general  over  all  his  dominions,  appointing  Bufiris  guar- 
dian of  the  parts  towards  the  fea  fide,  and  Phoenicia;  and  Antaeus  of  Ethi- 
opia, and  Libya.  Ofiris  was  accompanied  by  his  brother  Apollo,  as  he  is 
call'd  by  the  Greeks;  he  was  the  propagator  of  the  bay,  as  Ofiris  was  of 
the  ivy,  for  which  reafon  thofe  trees  are  facred  to  thefe  Gods,  and  it  is  to 
be  obferv'd,  that  the  trees  that  are  confecrated  to  them,  are  ever-greens,  as 
the  myrtle  to  Venus,  and  the  olive  to  Minerva.  It  is  faid,  Ofiris  had  for 
his  companions  in  war,  Anubis  and  Macedon.  They  wore  the  Ikins  of 
thofe  animals  they  fomewhat  refembled  in  courage,  Anubis  wearing  the 
dog's  (kin,  and  Macedon  that  of  the  wolf ;  on  which  account  thofe  beafts 
are  efteemed  facred  in  Egypt,  and  in  time  came  to  be  worfhipped.  He 
took  Pan  alfo  with  him,  whom  we  may  fuppole  to  be  a  different  perfon 
from  the  other  before-mentioned  ;  one  of  his  names  was  had  in  great 
veneration  in  Egypt,  his  ftatues  being  in  every  temple,  and  a  city  built  to 
him.  He  carried  likewife  husbandmen  with  him  ;  Maro  for  cultivating 
the  vine,  and  Triptolemus  to  teach  the  manner  of  fowing  and  reaping  the 
corn.  Thus  accompanied,  he  went  into  Ethiopia.  In  this  country  fatyrs 
were  brought  to  him,  cover'd  with  hair;  for  Ofiris  was  a  lover  of  mirth, 
and  of  mufick  and  dancing,  and  always  carried  with  him  a  band  of  mu- 
fic,  in  which  there  were  nine  virgins,  who  were  excellently  well  (kill'd 
in  vocal  mufick,  as  well  as  learned  in  other  fubjedts,  and  were  therefore 
call'd  by  the  Greeks  the  Mufes ;  -Apollo  prelided  over  them. 

Ofiris  met  with  no  oppolition,  being  receiv'd  every  where  as  a  God, 
for  his  beneficence  towards  mankind.  He  improv'd  Ethiopia  by  agriculture, 
and  building  cities,  and  left  in  it  officers  to  colleft  the  tributes.  Whilft 
he  was  here,  there  happen'd  in  Egypt  a  great  inundation  of  the  Nile, 
which  did  particular  damage  in  that  part  of  Egypt,  that  was  under  the 
care  of  Prometheus,  who  was  on  this  account  near  laying  violent  hands  on 
himfelf.  The  river,  by  reafon  of  the  rapidity  of  its  courfe,  and  the  vio- 
lence of  its  waters,  was  call'd  the  Eagle.  Hercules,  always  afpiring  at 
great  things,  and  zealous  to  fhew  his  extraordinary  ftrength,  made  up 
the  dikes,  and  kept  the  river  within  its  bounds,  on  which  account  the 
Greeks,  fays  Diodorus,  invented  the  fable,  that  Hercules  kill'd  the  eagle, 
that  was  feeding  on  the  liver  of  Prometheus.  It  is  faid,  the  river  was 
after  call'd  the  Nile,  from  Nileus  a  King  of  Egypt.  Ofiris  going  into 
Thrace,  Maro  founded  the  city  Maronea,  and  Macedon,  the  Macedonian 
Vol.  I.  M  m  m  empire  i 


OBSERVATIONS 

empire.  He  fent  Triptolemus  into  Attica  to  teach  the  inhabitants  agricul- 
ture. Ofiris  carried  his  arts  every  where,  and,  if  any  country  was  not  capable 
of  bearing  wine,  he  taught  them  to  make  a  liquor  of  barley,  not  much  in- 
ferior to  wine,  either  in  ftrength  or  flavour.  After  Ofiris's  death,  divine  ho- 
nours were  paid  to  him.  It  was  long  kept  as  a  fecret  that  he  was  kill'd  by 
Typhon,  who  would  have  feized  on  his  dominions;  but  Ifis,  with  her  fon 
Horus,  vanquifhed  Typhon  near  Antaeopolis.  Typhon  had  divided  the  body 
of  Ofiris  into  twenty-fix  parts,  and  diftributed  them  to  his  accomplices  ;  all 
thefe  Ifis  found,  and  inclofed  each  of  the  pieces  within  a  painted  figure 
of  a  body,  compofed  of  wax  and  aromatic  fpices ;  thefe  fhe  delivered  to 
diftinft  bodies  of  priefts,  under  great  fecrecy,  to  be  buried;  enjoyning 
them  to  pay  divine  honours  to  Ofiris,  and  to  confecrate  fome  particular 
animal  to  him,  and  when  it  died,  to  bury  it  in  the  fame  manner;  thus 
they  continued  the  fame  honours  to  the  confecrated  animals;  and  the  fa- 
cred  bulls,  call'd  Apis  and  Mnevis,  becaufe  they  were  fo  ufeful  in  agri- 
culture, were  worfhipp'd  in  Egypt.  From  this  account  we  may  fee  the 
reafon  why  Ofiris  was  worfhipp'd  in  the  fhape  of  a  mummy,  and  that  his 
ftatues  are  feen  fo  common  in  that  figure,  and  alfo  why  fo  many  facred 
animals  were  worfhipp'd  in  Egypt.  From  this  alfo,  probably,  the  cuftom 
took  rife  of  embalming  their  dead  bodies,  forming  them  in  the  fame  fi- 
gure, and  honouring  the  relidrs  of  their  relations  in  the  fame  manner,  as 
the  feveral  pieces  of  Ofiris  were  preferved. 

If  we  examine  into  the  rife  of  the  fables  relating  to  the  births  of  fe- 
veral of  the  Deities  faid  to  have  been  begotten  likewife  by  Deities,  we  fhall 
find  it  had  no  other  foundation,  than  the  lewdnefs  or  adulteries  of  the  rela- 
tions of  great  perfons,  who  had  people  about  them  to  invent  ftories  to  cover 
the  difhonour  of  their  families.  Of  this  nature  was  the  fable  of  Semele 
and  Bacchus,  not  to  mention  feveral  others,  from  the  accounts  we  have  by 
their  own  authors.  And  Deities,  which,  in  the  idea  of  the  Heathens,  fub- 
fifted  before,  were  made  to  be  born  long  after.  For  the  fame  purpofe 
the  Greek  Hercules  was  fuppofed  to  be  begotten  by  Jupiter  on  Alcmena, 
to  cover  her  adultery,  when  fhe  brought  forth  a  fon  at  an  improper  time, 
during  the  abfence  of  her  husband  Amphitryo  in  the  wars.  The  lewd- 
nefs of  Io  daughter  of  Inachus,  King  of  the  Argives,  is  another  inftance 
of  this  kind,  who  proving  with  child  by  a  mariner,  and,  it  is  faid,  going 
into  Egypt  in  a  fhip  that  had  a  bull  painted  on  it,  all  that  ftory  of  her 
being  transformed  into  an  heifer,  and  of  the  loves  of  Jupiter,  was  invent- 
ed, and  that  fhe  went  into  Egypt  and  there  recover'd  her  firft  fhape,  and 
was  married  to  Ofiris ;  and,  upon  this  very  ftory,  Diodorus  f  takes  occa- 
fion  to  make  reflections  on  the  great  difagreement  there  was  in  relation 
to  the  hiftory  of  their  Gods ;  that  the  fame  Deity  was  call'd  by  fome  Ifis, 
by  others  Ceres ;  by  fome  Thefmophorus,  by  others  the  Moon ;  by  fome 
again  Juno,  and  that  others  call'd  this  Deity  by  all  thefe  names :  That 
they  call'd  Ofiris  fometimes  Serapis,  and  fometimes  Bacchus,  at  other  times 
Pluto,  fometimes  Ammon,  at  others  Jupiter,  and  often  Pan ;  and  fome 
faid,  that  Serapis  was  the  Pluto  of  the  Greeks ;  there  being  in  reality,  very 
little  foundation  in  truth  for  thefe  things,  but  almoft  all  thefe  ftories  have 
had  their  rife  from  the  inventions  of  men  on  different  occafions;  which 

f  Diodorus  i.  p.  22. 

is 


ON  EGYPT. 

is  the  caufe  of  fuch  variety  and  difagreement  in  the  accounts  of  the  my- 
thology of  the  Heathens. 

Horus  was  fon  of  Ofiris  and  Ifis,  who,  being  taught  the  art  of  prophecy 
and  phyfick  by  Ifis,  was  called  Apollo;  fo  that  we  have  Apollo  both 
brother  and  fon  to  Ofiris.  The  giants  alfo,  confirming  of  many  bodies, 
are  faid  to  have  rifen  in  the  time  of  Ofiris,  whofe  minifters  were  reprefented 
as  whipping  them ;  and  for  this  reafon,  the  ftatue  of  Ofiris  is  often  feen 
with  a  whip,  as  the  punifher  of  the  wicked.  It  is  alfo  remarkable,  that 
Ifis  behaved  in  fo  prudent  and  wife  a  manner  after  the  death  of  Ofiris,  that 
the  Queens  of  Egypt,  were  from  that  time,  ever  had  in  greater  honour  than 
the  Kings,  and  were  invefted  with  higher  power  ;  and,  in  the  marriage 
fettlements  among  private  perfons,  that  polite  claufe  ufed  to  be  added,  that 
all  things  fhould  be  under  the  direction  of  the  lady  f.  And,  as  it  has  been 
judged  that  all  the  mummies  that  have  been  found  about  Saccara,  which 
was  near  Memphis,  are  female  bodies,  it  is  poffible  on  the  burial  of  Ifis  in 
a  chapel  in  the  grove  of  Vulcan  at  Memphis,  all  women  might  be  confe- 
crated  to  this  Deity,  and  be  buried  in  thefe  catacombs,  as  near  as  conve- 
niently they  could  be  to  the  Goddefs,  and  have  their  coffins,  by  a  particu- 
lar difpofition,  made  fo  as  to  reprefent  Ofiris,  which  might  be  another 
foundation  for  the  future  regards  that  were  to  be  paid  them.  And  pof- 
fibly  the  bodies  of  the  men  might  be  depofited  in  another  part,  perhaps  in 
the  grottos  to  the  eaft  of  the  Nile ;  and  the  honours  that  were  paid  to  them 
might  not  be  fo  great  in  preferving  them,  and,  for  that  reafon,  they  may 
not  have  continued  fo  long.  But  thefe  are  only  conjectures,  for  which  it 
is  certain  we  have  no  foundation  in  antient  authors. 


CHAP.  IV. 

Of  the  antient  Hieroglyphics  of  the  Egyptians. 

HEROD  OTUS  faysj  the  Egyptians  ufed  two  forts  of  letters,  or 
ways  of  writing ;  one  call'd  facred,  the  other  vulgar  letters  *.  Dio- 
dorus  gives  a  more  particular  account,  tho'  in  fome  parts  obfcure. 
He  fays,  the  Egyptians  learnt  the  form  of  their  letters,  or  writing,  from 
the  Ethiopians  ;  for  of  the  Egyptian  letters,  or  manner  of  writing,  one  was 
vulgar,  which  all  people  learnt ;  others  were  call'd  facred,  which  the  priefts 
only  knew  among  the  Egyptians,  learning  them  of  their  fathers,  among 
thofe  things  which  were  to  be  kept  fecret ;  but  the  Ethiopians  ufed  all  thefe 
letters  or  ways  of  writing  indifferently:  So  that  one  would  imagine,  the 
Ethiopians  either  had  two  alphabets,  or  that  they  had  two  ways  of  writing 
moft  things,  but  that  of  thefe  the  Egyptians  ufed  one  commonly,  and  the 
other  only  in  their  facred  writings.  So  that  it  was  rather  the  unlawfulnefs, 
than  any  impoffibility  of  obtaining  a  knowledge  of  thefe  letters,  that  kept 
them  from  reading  their  facred  writings,  as  they  could,  perhaps,  have  learnt 
them  of  the  Ethiopians,  if  we  fuppofe  they  were  exactly  the  fame  ;  but  it 

-f  Ai*  Si  -zewrxi  t«;  airiat  xwWe^Giiva*  [tafyv®*    pxZltov  cZvrccvIa  nr«9«^^V«v  rij  yaunpevti.  Diodorus, 

It,  7SC.p£   Toft    iJlWTOSIS  VM&iVM    T«V    J/UmWitaS    Toil'tffOf  *    AltpCtftOlffl    cfe  ^gE«v7«r    x)    TaJ  jKfV 

h  t»j  Tflf  z^oucoV  evvyf^cip^'  TZ^acopQhoyxvlm  t«w  yx-     cunm         t«  Si  J»j|we7iy.flt  x«?im«i.  Herodotus  ii. 

c.  36. 

is 


228 


OBSERVATIONS 


is  poffible,  that  the  Egyptians,  having  learnt  the  art  of  writing  of  the  Ethio- 
pians, might  afterwards  alter  the  letters  or  marks,  that  flood  for  words, 
that  the  Ethiopians  themfelves  might  not  be  able  to  read  them,  although 
the  languages  of  both  nations  might  be  the  fame:  He  afterwards  fpeaks  of  the 
Ethiopian  letters,  call'd  by  the  Egyptians  hieroglyphics;  he  fays,  that  at 
firft  their  forms  of  writing  reprefented  all  forts  of  beafts,  the  parts  of  the 
human  body,  and  inftruments,  efpecially  thofe  of  the  handicrafts;  for 
their  writings  did  not  confift  of  fyllables  put  together,  but  of  figures  that 
related  to  the  things  they  were  to  exprefs ;  for  they  wrote  or  drew  the  fi- 
gure of  a  hawk,  a  crocodile,  a  ferpent,  the  eye,  hand,  or  face  of  a  man, 
and  the  like.  A  hawk  fignified  all  things  that  were  to  be  done  expediti- 
oufly,  (1  fhould  rather  think  expedition  itfelf)  becaufe  it  is  the  fwifteft  of 
birds.  The  crocodile  fignified  malice;  the  eye  exprefs 'd  both  an  obftrver 
of  juftice,  and  a  keeper  of  any  perfon  :  The  right  hand,  with  the  fingers 
extended,  fignified  any  one's  getting  his  livelihood:  The  left  hand  fhut, 
the  preferving  and  keeping  of  any  thing.  Thus  every  thing  was  read  and 
underftood  by  figures.  This  feems  to  have  been  the  hieroglyphical  man- 
ner of  writing ;  but  it  is  to  be  doubted,  if  the  common  way  was  not  by 
fingle  letters  compofing  fyllables.  The  form  of  letters  is  arbitrary,  and 
each  letter,  as  conjectured  by  fome,  might  be  the  refemblance  of  an  ani- 
mal; efpecially  as  the  names  of  fome  antient  letters  are  the  names  of 
beafts.  The  capital  Armenian  letters  are  now  actually  reprefented  by  beafts, 
without  any  fimilitude  of  the  letter  added  to  it,  as  I  faw  in  their  gram- 
mar, printed  by  the  Propaganda  Fide. 

Mofes,  who  was  fkill'd  in  all  the  learning  of  the  Egyptians,  without 
doubt,  underftood  their  manner  of  writing ;  and,  if  the  letters  reprefent- 
ed animals,  he  muft  have  compofed  a  new  alphabet,  when  the  law  forbid 
them  to  make  the  likenefs  of  any  thing,  that  is,  we  are  to  fuppofe  of  any 
living  creature,  or  of  any  of  thofe  luminaries  that  were  worfhipped  in  the 
Heathen  world.  The  figures  ftanding  for  letters  could  not  be  above  forty 
or  fifty.  It  may  be  confider'd  alfo,  how  many  of  thefe  there  muft  be,  if 
they  flood  for  fyllables,  which  would  feem  to  be  a  more  difficult  way  of 
writing  than  putting  figures  for  words,  which  by  the  refemblance  would  very- 
much  help  the  memory;  an  advantage  that  could  not  be  had,  if  certain 
figures  flood  for  fyllables.  If  hieroglyphical  figures  flood  for  words  or 
founds  that  fignified  certain  things,  the  power  of  hieroglyphics  feems  to  be 
the  fame  as  of  a  number  of  letters  compofing  fuch  a  found,  that  by  agree- 
ment was  made  to  fignify  fuch  a  thing.  For  hieroglyphics,  as  words,  feem 
to  have  flood  for  founds,  and  founds  fignify  things  ;  as  for  inftance,  it 
might  have  been  agreed,  that  the  figure  of  a  crocodile  might  ftand  for 
the  found  that  meant  what  we  call  malice:  The  children  of  the  priefts 
were  early  taught,  that  the  figure  of  a  crocodile  flood  for  fuch  a  found,  and, 
if  they  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  the  found,  it  would  certainly  ftand 
with  them  for  a  found ;  though,  as  the  found,  it  fignified  alfo  a  quality  or 
thing;  and  they  might  afterwards  be  taught  the  meaning  of  this  found  ;  as 
words  are  only  founds,  which  founds  we  agree  fhall  fignify  fuch  and  fuch 
things ;  fo  that  to  children,  words  only  ftand  for  founds,  which  relate  to 
fuch  things  as  they  know  nothing  of ;  and,  in  this  fenfe,  we  fay  children 
learn  many  things  like  parrots,  what  they  do  not  underftand,  and  their  me- 
mories are  exercifed  only  about  founds,  till  they  are  inftrudted  in  the  mean- 


ON  EGYPT. 


ing  of  the  words.  This,  I  thought  it  might  be  proper  to  obferve,  as  fome 
fay,  hieroglyphics  flood  for  things,  and  not  for  words,  if  founds  articulated 
in  a  certain  manner  are  words.  And  though  it  may  be  faid,  that  in  this 
cafe,  when  different  nations  of  different  languages  agree  on  common  cha- 
racters, that  ftand  for  certain  things  they  agree  on,  that  then  fuch  figures 
ftand  for  things :  This  will  be  allow'd ;  but  then  they  ftand  for  founds  too, 
that  is,  the  founds  in  each  language  that  fignify  fuch  things:  And,  as  ob- 
ferved  before,  to  children,  who  know  nothing  of  the  feveral  things  they 
ftand  for,  to  them  they  are  only  marks  that  exprefs  fuch  and  fuch  founds  ; 
fo  that  thefe  figures  ftand  not  for  things  alone,  but,  as  words,  for  founds 
and  things.  It  is  to  be  doubted,  whether  we  have  any  in!criptions  in  a 
language,  the  letters  of  which  are  figures  of  things ;  for  to  know  that,  we 
are  not  to  examine  all  hieroglyphics,  to  fee  how  many  different  forts  there 
are;  but  if  any  are  writ  in  lines,  we  ought  to  examine  them,  and  fee  whether 
the  different  figures  amount  to  fo  great  a  variety  as  muft  exceed  the  num- 
ber of  letters  in  any  language.  It  is  probable,  that  the  hieroglyphical  writ- 
ing, was  written  in  the  fame  manner  as  the  common  language,  with  re- 
gard to  the  lines ;  and  thofe  few  infcriptions,  that  are  found  written  in 
lines,  have  fo  great  a  variety  of  figures,  that  it  is  to  be  concluded,  they 
are  the  facred  hieroglyphical  writing,  in  which  each  figure  flood  for  a 
word.  As' to  other  emblematical  hieroglyphics,  which  feem  to  have  been 
defign'd  for  ornaments  of  buildings,  we  may  fuppofe,  that  at  firft  they 
might  only  adorn  their  freezes,  and  that  the  ornaments  on  the  freezes  in 
temples  confifted  of  fuch  things  as  related  to  the  Deity,  or  the  manner  of 
worfhip ;  as  the  animal,  under  whofe  fhape  he  was  worfhipped,  might  be 
reprefented.  The  Lituus,  an  inftrument  of  augury,  and  vafes  of  facrifice, 
may  be  allow'd  to  be  infcriptions,  if  the  Patera,  the  head  of  the  ox,  and 
the  like,  in  the  freezes  of  Greek  and  Roman  architecture,  are  affirm'd  to 
be  infcriptions,  fignifying  that  fuch  a  beaft  was  facrificed,  or  fuch  a  vafe 
ufed  in  their  facrifices  or  libations.  And,  with  regard  to  other  emblems, 
if  the  reverfe  of  a  medal,  on  which  the  figures  of  certain  virtues  are  re- 
prefented, for  which  the  perfon  is  celebrated,  or  many  of  the  pictures  of 
Rubens  of  that  nature,  may  be  faid  to  be  infcriptions,  it  may  be  allow'd 
alfo,  that  thefe  hieroglyphics  are  infcriptions  ;  but  thefe  feem  to  reprefent 
things;  for  if  they  were  infcriptions,  they  muft  ftand  for  fuch  individual 
words,  and  be  read  into  certain  fentences,  exactly  in  the  fame  words,  by 
all  thofe  who  underftand  that  language,  which  does  not  feem  to  be  the 
cafe.  And  tho'  Ammianus  Marcellinue  mentions  the  inftription  on  every 
fide  of  the  obelilk  that  was  brought  to  Conftantinople,  yet  it  may  be  fup- 
pofed  thefe  hieroglyphics  might  be  in  lines  on  the  pedeftal  or  bafe  of  the 
obelifk,  where  the  infcription  might  be  more  eafily  read;  and  it  is  probable, 
they  were  in  the  common  letters,  which,  as  they  were  figures  of  animals, 
might  poffibly  be  call'd  hieroglyphics,  tho'  not  fo  ftrictly  fpeaking ;  for,  as  the 
infcription  was  in  honour  of  fo  great  a  King,  it  is  molt  probable,  it  fhould 
be  written  fo  as  to  be  read  by  every  body ;  and,  if  it  was  written  in  the 
hieroglyphical  characters  ftanding  for  words,  it  muft  have  taken  up  very 
little  room,  there  being  only  as  many  figures  as  principal  words,  and  could 
not  have  well  cover'd  one  fide  of  a  large  obelifk,  which  would  not 
have  anfwer'd  the  end  of  fuch  a  very  concife  manner  of  writing,  for 
which  the  hieroglyphics  were  contrived,  as  a  fhort  hand,  to  comprehend 
Vol.  I.  N  n  n  much 


OBSERVATIONS 

much  under  a  few  figures,  eafily  penn'd  after  they  were  once  learnt.  As 
far,  therefore,  as  hieroglyphics  are  emblematical,  they  feem  to  ftand  for 
things ;  but  as  they  are  infcriptions,  they  ftand  for  words  or  founds  as  well 
as  things,  and  might  be  read  in  the  vulgar  language  by  the  children  of 
the  priefts,  who  poffibly  might  not  underftand  any  part  of  fome  of  them, 
that  might  relate  to  fciences,  they  as  yet  knew  nothing  of. 


CHAP.  V. 

Of  the  Egyptian  manner  of  Embalming  human  Bodies  and 

Birds. 

HERODOTUS  f  gives  fome  account  of  the  honours  they  paid  to 
the  bodies  of  their  relations,  after  they  were  dead.  He  fays,  when 
any  man  of  confequence  died,  all  the  women  of  the  family  befmear'd 
their  hands  and  faces  with  dirt ;  left  the  body  in  the  houfe,  and,  with 
other  women,  their  relations,  went  about  the  city  beating  themfelves,  with 
their  garments  girt  about  them,  and  their  brcafts  uncovered  ;  the  men  alfo 
girded  their  garments  about  them  and  beat  themfelves;  afterwards  they 
carried  the  body  to  be  embalmed;  there  being  certain  perfons  appoint- 
ed for  this  bufmefs,  whofe  profeflion  it  was;  who,  when  the  body  was 
brought  to  them,  fhew'd  feveral  patterns  made  of  wood,  painted  like  a 
dead  body  embalmed.  One  of  thefe  patterns  was  of  very  fine  workman- 
fhip,  and  called  by  a  name  it  was  not  lawful  commonly  to  utter ;  ano- 
ther was  fhewn,  not  fo  fine,  and  lefs  coftly;  and  a  third  ftill  cheaper. 
They  then  afk'd,  in  which  manner  they  would  have  the  body  prepar'd,  and 
fo  agreed  on  the  price.  And  it  is  here  to  be  obferv'd,  that  thefe  three 
ways  of  adorning  the  outfide  of  mummies,  feem  to  relate  to  this  firft 
manner  of  embalming ;  and  it  is  probable,  there  were  three  prices,  accord- 
ing to  the  beauty  of  the  workmanfhip.  Then  they  embalmed  them  in 
this  manner :  Firft,  they  extracted  the  brains  by  the  nofe,  with  a  crooked 
iron,  and  then  poured  in  drugs;  afterwards  they  opend  the  body  with  a 
fharp  Ethiopian  ftone,  took  out  the  bowels,  cleanfed  the  body,  and  wafti- 
ed  it  with  palm  wine,  and  a  fecond  time  with  pounded  perfumes;  they 
then  fill'd  it  with  myrrh,  caflia,  and  other  fpices,  frankincenfe  excepted, 
and  few'd  it  up  :  Afterwards  they  wafh'd  it  with  nitre,  and  laid  it  by  for 
feventy  days,  for  longer  it  was  not  permitted  to  lie :  They  then  wafh'd 
the  body  again,  and  wound  it  up  in  fwathes  of  linen,  befmearing  it  over 
with  gums,  which  the  Egyptians  ufed  inftead  of  glue.  The  relations  took 
it  from  them,  and  made  a  wooden  figure  of  a  man,  in  which  they  put 
the  body,  and  fixing  down  the  top,  they  put  it  into  the  catacombs.  But 
thofe,  who  were  more  moderate  in  their  expences,  injected  turpentine  of 
cedar  with  a  pipe  into  the  body,  without  cutting  it ;  they  then  faked  it  for 
feventy  days,  and  drew  out  the  pipe,  which  brought  the  bowels  out  with 
it  by  the  fundament,  and  the  nitre  dried  up  the  flefh,  leaving  nothing  but 
the  fkin  and  the  bones.    The  third  way  of  preparing  the  body,  with  thofe 

t  Herodotus,  I.  ii.  c.  85,  S6. 

.  i  J ;  of 


ON  EGYPT, 


of  fmall  fortunes,  was  by  cleanfing  the  infide  with  fait  and  water,  and 
faking  it  for  feventy  Days. 

Diodorus  -f  adds  to  this  account  of  Herodotus,  that  they  went  mourn- 
ing about  the  city  till  the  body  was  buried;  that,  during  that  time,  they 
ufed  neither  the  baths,  wine,  delicate  food,  nor  fine  cloaths.  The  firft. 
manner  of  embalming  coft  a  talent  of  filver;  the  fecond  twenty  Minx. 
The  people  of  this  profeffion,  of  embalming  bodies,  learnt  the  art  of  their 
anceftors ;  and  their  method  was,  to  bring  in  an  account  to  the  relations, 
of  the  expences  of  the  different  ways  of  embalming  the  body,  and  alking 
them  which  method  they  chofe ;  and,  agreeing  about  every  thing,  they 
took  away  the  body,  to  be  embalmed.  Firft,  the  fecretary  mark'd  out 
on  the  left  fide,  how  far  it  ought  to  be  cut  ;  then  a  certain  officer  cut 
according  to  their  rules,  with  an  Ethiopian  {lone,  and  immediately  ran 
away,  all  the  people  that  were  prefent  following  him,  throwing  ftones  af- 
ter him,  and  curfing  him,  to  attone  tor  this  fa£t;  for  they  look  on  the 
perfon  as  an  object-  of  hatred,  who  offers  any  violence,  wounds,  or  does 
any  harm  to  the  body  of  his  fellow  creature:  But  thofe  who  embalmed  the 
bodies,  they  honour'd  and  efteem'd ;  and  they  converfed  with  the  priefts, 
and  went  into  the  temples  (as  the  priefts)  without  any  reftraint.  Then  one 
of  them  took  out  all  the  entrails,  except  the  heart  and  kidneys.  Another 
wafli'd  the  infide,  and  the  bowels  with  palm  wine,  and  aromatic  per- 
fumes ;  they  then  prepar'd  the  body  with  turpentine  of  cedar,  and  other 
things,  for  about  thirty  days,  and  afterwards  with  myrrh  and  cinamon, 
not  only  to  preferve  it,  but  to  keep  it  fweet.  From  what  follows,  one 
would  imagine,  that  there  was  a  way  of  preferving  the  bodies  far  beyond, 
that  of  wrapping  them  up  in  linen  and  dipping  them  in  Bitumen,  or  be- 
fmearing  them  with  it,  in  the  manner  we  fee  they  were  embalmed  ;  for  he 
fays,  their  very  eyebrows  and  eyelafhes,  and  the  form  and  appearance  of 
the  whole  body  was  fo  well  preferved,  that  they  might  be  known  by  their 
features  ;  and,  on  this  account,  many  of  the  Egyptians  kept  the  bodies  of 
their  anceftors  in  houfes,  adorn'd  at  a  very  great  coft,  and  had  the  plea- 
fure  to  fee  their  fore-fathers,  who  were  dead  many  years  before  they  were 
born,  and  to  obferve  all  their  features,  as  well  as  if  they  were  living. 
From  this  account  it  is  probable,  that  this  manner  of  embalming  was 
the  fineft  and  mod  coftly,  and  thofe  whofe  bodies  were  prepared  in  this 
way  might  be  fet  upright,  that  their  friends  might  have  the  pleafure  to 
behold  them  in  that  natural  pofture.  Herodotus  fpeaks  of  binding  thofe 
up  in  fwathes,  and  putting  them  in  coffins,  who  were  embalmed  in  the  beft 
manner;  fo  that  it  feems,  either  that  Herodotus  was  not  well  acquainted 
with  this  firft  way  of  embalming,  or  that  it  was  an  improvement  intro- 
duced afterwards,  if  the  account  of  Diodorus  be  true  ;  though  it  muft  be 
obferv'd,  that  we  do  not  find,  that  ever  any  bodies  have  been  difcover'd, 
which  were  embalmed,  as  our  author  defcribes;  though  it  may  be  doubted, 
whether  there  were  not  fuch  bodies  formerly  found,  that  fupplied  the 
world  with  the  mummy  of  dried  flefh ;  there  being  nothing  of  this  kind 
feen  on  the  mummies  at  prefent;  and  that,  there  being  fo  great  a  de- 
mand for  it,  all  thofe  bodies  might  have  been  deftroyed,  and  that  drug 
fupplied  by  the  art  of  the  Jews  of  Alexandria,  as  fome  travellers  relate. 

f  Lib.  i.  p.  Si. 

There 


OBSERVATIONS 

There  were,  doubtlefs,  feveral  ways  of  embalming  the  bodies,  accord- 
ing to  the  firft  and  fecond  manner  of  Herodotus,  which  were  more  or 
lefs  expenfive.    It  was  obferved  of  a  mummy  I  brought  from  Egypt,  that 
was  in  a  coffin  made  of  boards ;  that  the  holes  between  the  boards  were 
filled  up  with  linen  and  fine  plaifter.    There  were  four  folds  of  cloth  over 
the  head;  the  upper  one  being  painted  blew;  under  this  there  was  a  com- 
pofition  about  half  an  inch  thick,  as  I  imagin'd,  of  gum,  and  cloth,  that  was 
burnt  by  the  heat  of  the  things  applied  to  it;  and  Herodotus  fays,  the 
clothes  were  befmear'd  with  gums ;  and  next  to  the  fkin  was  a  coat  of  gum 
or  Bitumen  about  as  thick  as  a  wafer,  which  feem'd  to  have  been  caufed 
by  dipping  the  body  in  Bitumen,  and  under  this,  the  skin  feem'd  to  be, 
next  to  the  skull.    The  head  was  half  full  of  Bitumen,  that  is,  the  hinder 
part,  the  body  having  been  laid  on  the  back,  when  the  Bitumen  was 
poured  in  by  the  nofe.     It  is  very  remarkable,  that  the  Bitumen  had 
penetrated  into  the  very  bone  of  the  skull,  efpecially  into  the  middle  part 
of  it,  which  is  moft  porous,  though  there  is  little  or  nothing  to  be  feen 
of  it  on  the  outer  tables  of  the  bones,  however,  it  is  not  probable  that  they 
fhould  have  had  an  art  of  injefting  by  the  blood  vefTels.    The  body  was 
bound  round  with  a  bandage  made  of  linen,  about  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  broad,  under  which  there  were  four  folds  of  cloth,  and  then  a 
fwathe  two  inches  broad,  and  under  that  eight  different  bandages  of  the 
fame  breadth,  laid  a-crofs  from  the  fhoulders  to  the  hips  on  the  other  fide. 
Under  this  there  was  a  cruft  of  linen  about  an  inch  thick,  burnt  almoft 
to  afhes,  but  flicking  together  by  means  of  the  gums  with  which  it  was 
probably  befmear'd.    The  bones  of  the  arms  were  laid  a-crofs  the  breaft; 
the  right  arm  being  over  the  left,  and  the  hands  lying  towards  the  face. 
From  the  hips  to  the  feet  there  were  eight  bandages  two  inches  broad,  one 
covering  about  half  of  the  other;  under  thefe  there  were  bandages  an  inch 
thick,  confirmed  by  the  heat  of  the  drugs,  as  before.    There  were  two 
wooden  blocks,  on  which  the  head  of  the  mummy  refted.    The  outer 
bandages  of  linen  did  not  feem  to  have  been  befmeared  with  gums.  The 
coffins  they  put  the  bodies  in  are  obferved  to  be  of  two  forts.     One  has 
the  lower  part  made  of  an  entire  piece  of  wood,  and  the  upper  of  an- 
other, both  hollow'd  in,  fo  as  to  receive  the  body,  and  being  put  toge- 
ther, they  are  faftned  with  broad  pegs  in  the  top,  that  are  fix'd  into 
holes  in  the  lower  part.    They  were  cut  into  the  fhape  of  a  human 
body,  as  bound  up  after  it  is  embalmed ;  and  the  coffins,  and  likewife 
the  bodies  wrapp'd  up  in  linen,  were  cover'd  over  with  a  thin  plaifter,  and 
painted  (without  doubt)  according  to  the  pattern  they  fix'd  on.    As  to 
the  manner  of  painting  the  mummies  and  coffins,  it  may  be  obferved, 
both  on  their  coffins  and  bodies,  that  they  firft  painted  the  ground  of  one 
colour,  and  then,  probably,  laying  on  a  cloth  or  pafte-board  cut  out  in 
figures  like  cut  paper,  they  painted  the  open  or  uncovered  fpaces;  for  the 
figures  appear  moftly  of  one  colour,  probably  that  of  the  ground,  and  the 
paint  rifes  higher  round  the  figure.    This  is  the  manner  they  call  paint- 
ing in  ftenfils,  and  it  is  fomething  in  this  way  that  they  now  paint  cards. 
It  was  obferved  alfo  on  another  fmall  mummy  I  brought  from  Egypt,  that 
there  is  a  fort  of  printing  call'd  ftrow  fmalt,  being  made  of  fmalt  finely 
powder'd  and  ftrow'd  on  the  paint.    The  fecond  way  of  making  the  cof- 
fin, was  with  boards  faften'd  together  with  pins,  with  very  little  art  in  the 

workmanfhip. 


ON  EGYPT. 


vvorkmanfliip.  A  face  or  mark  carved  in  wood  was  nailed  on  the  lid  of 
the  coffin,  over  the  head.  When  I  went  into  the  catacombs,  I  had  reafon 
to  think,  they  had  tied  up  fome  of  the  bodies  of  inferior  perfons  in  reeds 
or  palm  boughs,  as  obferved  when  I  defcribed  the  catacombs  of  Saccarai 

As  to  embalming  of  animals,  I  have  already  obferved,  that  Ilis,  finding 
the  feveral  parts  of  the  body  of  Ofiris,  had  each  of  them  made  up  in  the 
moft  beautiful  manner,  like  a  body  preferved  after  it  was  buried,  and  fent 
them  to  the  priefts  of  twenty-four  feveral  temples,  defiring  each  of  them  to 
pay  due  honour  to  the  reliefs  of  Ofiris,  to  confecrate  one  animal  to  him,  and 
when  it  died  to  bury  it  in  the  fame  manner:  This  way  we  may  account  for 
the  worfliip  of  animals  in  twenty-four  temples  in  particular ;  but  it  is  to  be 
obferved,  that  they  worfhipped  the  fame  animals  in  different  temples,  as  the 
crocodile  at  Ombus,  and  at  two  or  three  other  cities  that  had  their  names 
from  that  animal;  at  Memphis  the  bull,  under  the  name  of  Apis,  and  at 
Heliopolis,  under  the  name  of  Mnevis.    Some  fay,  the  foul  of  Ofiris  went 
into  a  bull,  and  that  this  was  the  reafon  of  the  extraordinary  worfhip 
paid  to  that  animal.    So,  according  to  the  defire  of  Ifis,  they  worfhipped 
thefe  animals  while  living,  and  when  dead,  they  embalmed  their  bodies 
and  depofited  them  in  their  catacombs  with  great  ceremony.    Some  ani- 
mals were  worfhipped  all  over  Egypt,  as  the  Ibis,  the  hawk,  and  the  cat: 
And  it  is  probable,  that  all  thefe  animals,  when  they  were  found  dead, 
were  embalmed  and  buried  in  this  manner,  out  of  the  great  veneration 
they  had  for  them,  whilft  of  the  others,  thofe  only  might  be  embalmed, 
that  were  particularly  confecrated  and  kept  in  their  temples:  And  this 
feems  to  be  the  reafon  why  fo  many  are  found  of  the  former,  efpe- 
cially  of  the  Ibis.    Thefe  birds  are  feen  in  the  catacombs  at  Saccara,  as  al- 
ready defcribed,  in  fuch  pots  as  are  reprefented  in  the  feventieth  plate  at 
A.  the  cover  C.  being  ftopp'd  down  with  mortar.    They  appear  to  have 
been  embalmed  and  wrapp'd  up  in  linen,  as  the  human  bodies.    At  B.  the 
bird  is  reprefented  as  it  appear'd  at  firft  opening,  in  the  pot ;  and  at  D.  as 
it  appear'd  when  taken  out  of  the  pot,  wrapp'd  in  feveral  folds  of  linen  ; 
the  outermoft  being  fewed  together,  and  the  fecond  bound  round  with 
thread.    At  E.  the  Ibis  appears,  as  it  was  after  the  two  outer  folds  were 
taken  off,  the  tape  appearing,  which  bound  round  the  reft:  Under  this 
there  were  above  twenty  folds  of  linen,  and  probably  feveral  more  under 
them,  which  were  burnt  to  a  coal  by  the  aromatic  drugs  and  melted  Bi- 
tumen they  were  probably  dipp'd  into,  or  befmear'd  with.    At  F.  the 
bird  is  reprefented  after  this  cruft  of  linen  and  aromatic  drugs  was  taken 
off ;   and  at  G.  as  it  was  when  more  was  taken  off,  fo  as  to,  fee  the 
bones  of  the  bird,  and  fome  feathers,  which  were  of  a  reddifh  colour, 
but  immediately  crumbled  into  powder,  on  being  touch'd  ;  however,  this 
colour  is  not  to  be  fuppofed  the  natural  colour  of  the  feathers,  but  owing 
to  the  balfams  and  drugs  it  was  embalmed  with. 


Vol.  I. 


O  oo 


CHAP. 


234 


OBSERVATIONS 


CHAP.  VI. 

An  Abftra£fc  from  Mallet's  Account  of  the  infide  of  the 
great  Pyramid. 

The  paffiges ''  ■  ->  H  E  entrance  to  the  great  pyramid  was  at  firft  fhut  up,  and  after- 
ramids.'  \.  wards  open'd  by  force,  as  may  be  feen  at  the  mouth  of  it,  where 
there  are  feveral  of  the  ftones,  that  clofed  it  up,  of  an  extraordinary  fize :  They 
were  placed  on  the  mouth  of  the  fteep  defcent,  which  leads  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  pyramid.  This  defcent  is  a  hundred  feet  long ;  the  way  to  it 
is  by  an  afcent  made  by  the  ruins  of  the  pyramid.  This  paffage  was  fill'd 
up  with  the  fame  kind  of  marble  with  which  the  infide  of  it  is  cafed. 
In  removing  thefe  ftones  and  the  others,  in  order  to  get  into  the  furtheft 
part  of  the  pyramid,  it  may  be  fuppofed,  that  they  proceeded  in  the  follow- 
ing manner.  Over  the  opening,  by  which  one  enters  into  this  paffage,  there 
is  a  fpace  of  nine  or  ten  feet,  from  which  ftones  have  been  taken  away,  of  a 
very  great  fize,  which  isfufficient  to  prove,  that  it  was  ftopp'd  up:  Thefe 
ftones  being  taken  away  for  no  other  end  than  to  find  the  entrance  into  the 
paffage,  or  to  have  the  more  command  of  thofe  that  fill'd  it  up,  which 
were  covered  with  the  ftones  that  were  taken  away,  as  may  be  feen  at  A. 
After  having  removed  thefe  great  ftones,  and  fuch  as  were  under  them  at 
the  entrance  of  the  paffage,  it  was  eafy  to  get  out  the  others  with  proper 
tools.  It  is  fuppofed,  that,  in  order  to  make  this  undertaking  the  more 
difficult,  they  were  fix'd  in  with  a  ftrong  cement,  which  bound  them  fo 
faft,  that  they  made  but  one  body  with  the  reft  of  the  building ;  but  by 
the  force  of  ftrong  machines,  and  by  means  of  hot  water  pour'd  into  the 
paffage  mark'd  B.  they  fo  weaken'd  the  cement,  and  loofen'd  the  ftones, 
that  they  were  eafily  taken  out :  For  means  muft  have  been  found  to 
do  it,  without  defacing  the  ftones  of  the  paffage,  which  are  ftill  of  as 
beautiful  a  polifh  as  the  firft  day  they  were  put  in,  except  thofe  at  the 
bottom,  where  they  have  made  from  place  to  place  hollow  grooves  or  chan- 
nels about  two  or  three  inches  deep,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  defcent  and 
afcent  by  this  paffage;  for  without  that  contrivance,  it  would  be  impoffi- 
ble  to  go  down  without  Aiding,  or  to  come  up  without  the  help  of  ropes. 
The  paffage  is  made  of  the  fineft  white  marble,  turn'd  fomewhat  yellow. 
One  of  the  very  large  blocks  that  was  taken  out  from  the  top,  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  paffage,  when  the  pyramid  was  forced  open,  is  ftill  to  be 
feen;  and  it  is  ufual  when  people  go  to  fee  this  famous  monument,  to  dine 
upon  it.  The  ftone  which  fill'd  up  the  firft  paffage,  and  all  the  others 
in  the  pyramid,  were  of  the  fame  marble,  which  doubtlefs  was  cholen 
for  this  purpofe,  on  account  of  its  extraordinary  hardnefs.  The  infide 
of  the  pyramid  is  fo  dark,  and  fo  much  blacken'd  with  the  fmoak  of 
candles  and  torches,  carried  there  for  fo  many  ages  by  fuch  as  go  to  fee 
it,  that  it  is  not  eafy  to  find  out  what  fort  of  ftone  the  rooms  and  other 
places  of  this  building  are  cafed  with:  One  can  only  fee  that  the  po- 
lifh is  exceedingly  beautiful,  and  that  they  are  very  hard,  and  fo  clofe- 
ly  join'd,  that  the  point  of  a  knife  cannot  go  between  them. 

The  firft  paffage  being  cleared,  and  that  laborious  work  finifh'd,  there 
was  another  much  more  difficult,  which  was,  to  remove  the  ftones  out 

of 


ON  EGYPT. 


of  another  paffage,  that  went  upwards,  toward  the  top  of  the  pyramid, 
and  as  fieep  as  the  firft.    The  chief  difficulty  muft  have  been  to  find  where 
it  began  in  the  paffage,  which  they  had  clear'd  ;  for,  tho'  the  ftone  that 
flopped  it  up,  was  fo  clofely  fitted  in,  as  to  leave  no  mark  of  any  open- 
ing, yet  it  might  be  difcover'd,  that  it  did  not  go  over  the  upper  part  of 
the  firft  paflage,  as  the  other  ftones;  which  might  be  found  by  thrufting  a 
knife,  or  fome  inftrument  into  the  joints  on  every  fide  of  that  ftone. 
This  entrance  was  within  ten  feet  of  the  bottom  of  the  lower  paffage,  the 
better  to  deceive  fuch  as  fhould  endeavour  to  find  it  out.    They  muft 
have  work'd  a  confiderable  time  at  the  ftone  with  great  difficulty  ;  and 
the  place  being  very  narrow,  they  muft  have  been  obliged  to  work  over 
their  heads,  lying  on  their  backs,  having  no  other  way  to  command  it  ; 
and  confequently  they  were  in  great  danger  of  being  crufh'd  by  the  fall 
of  the  ftone,  which  muft  have  been  loofe,  as  may  be  feen  at  C.  Notwith- 
ftanding,  after  having,  by  dint  of  labour  and  with  proper  tools,  overcome 
this  difficulty,  there  was  another  ftone,  which  went  down  to  the  bottom 
of  the  paffage;  upon  which  they  were  obliged  to  work  in  another  man- 
ner.   Having  removed  this  likewife,  there  follow'd  direftly  another,  which 
made  them  think  this  work  would  be  too  tedious;  therefore  this  method 
was  laid  afide  ;  fo  that,  after  having  fupported  the  ftones,  to  keep  them 
from  falling  down,  and  flopping  up  the  paflage,  at  the  place  mark'd  D. 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  paffage,  they  muft  have  made  a  way  by  breaking 
the  ftones  of  the  lower  paffage,  which  is  forty  feet  long,  and  eight  or  ten 
wide  and  high ;  this  is  mark'd  E.    In  moft  places  it  is  very  narrow  and 
low,  in  fome  not  high  enough  for  a  man  to  ftand  upright:  This  was  a 
work  of  infinite  labour.    Then  turning  upon  the  left,  towards  the  upper 
paflage,  they  took  out  three  or  four  ftones,  which  made  an  opening  of  a- 
bout  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  in  the  place  mark'd  G.    But  before  we  go  on 
with  a  further  account  of  the  work,  it  is  proper  to  take  notice,  that  the 
ftone  to  the  right,  which  clofed  up  this  paffage,  in  that  part  where  it  made 
an  angle  with  the  lower  paffage,  had  probably  been  cut  fo  as  exadtly  to  fill 
up  that  angle,  but  was  afterwards  removed  ;  for  the  ftone  at  prefent,  does 
not  exadly  fit  it,  there  being  a  void  fpace  of  three  or  four  inches  at  the 
upper  part  of  it,  which  ought  to  have  been  fo  much  longer  than  the  un- 
der part,  as  may  be  feen  at  the  letter  F. 

When  they  had  taken  away  the  three  ftones,  which  clofed  the  fide  of  the 
upper  paffage  at  G.  the  bufmefs  was  not  only  to  remove  the  ftones  which 
they  found  in  this  new  opening  they  made,  hut  likewife  all  that  were  a- 
bove,  and  of  an  unknown  length.  This  was  a  difficult  task,  and  tedious 
to  perform,  there  being  only  room  for  one  man  to  work  in  the  fpace  of 
three  feet  three  inches  fquare  ;  and  they  had  reafon  to  think,  that  befides 
the  great  number  of  ftones  which  fill'd  up  this  paffage,  there  might  be 
fome  other  place  above,  where  there  might  be  ftill  more  ftones  ready  to 
flide  down  and  fill  up  this  paffage,  as  faft  as  they  endeavour'd  to  clear  it. 
This  was  an  additional  labour,  which  the  architect  had  prepared  for  thofe 
who  fhould  attempt  to  penetrate  into  the  centre  of  the  pyramid ;  there- 
fore, in  order  to  fave  fome  part  of  that  labour,  inftead  of  breaking  all  the 
ftones  at  the  place  mark'd  G.  where  they  had  begun  to  make  a  paflage,  it 
was  refolved  to  fupport  the  ftones  with  timber,  or  by  fome  other  way,  until 
they  had  broke  the  under  one.    Accordingly  they  fecured  the  upper  ftone, 


a36  OBSERVATION  S 

and  then  cut  away  the  ftone  under  it ;  and  fo  going  from  one  ftone  to  an- 
other, they  at  laft  came  to  the  end,  and  to  the  void  fpace,  of  which  I 
am  going  to  give  an  account.  It  is  to  be  obferved,  that  in  the  whole 
length  of  this  paffage,  they  were  obliged  to  ufe  violent  means  to  break 
the  ftones  with  which  it  was  filled  up  ;  which  fo  defaced  all  the  fides  of 
the  paffage,  that,  whereas  it  was  at  firft  iquare,  it  became  almoft  round, 
which  is  a  proof  that  the  work  was  carried  on  in  this  manner;  for,  if  they 
had  broke  the  ftones  direftly  in,  that  part  only  would  have  been  defaced, 
and  the  remainder  of  it,  which  is  eighty  feet  long,  and  mark'd  H.  from 
which  the  ftones  would  have  Aid  down  to  the  breach  which  was  made, 
would  have  remain'd  intire,  without  being  defaced,  as  all  the  other  parts 
do  to  this  day. 

Thegaileiy.  When  they  were  at  the  end  of  this  paflage,  it  was  found,  that  the 
upper  part  was  open,  and  that  it  was  a  foot  narrower  than  before,  for 
the  height  of  two  feet  and  a  half,  where  it  widened  a  foot  and  a  half 
on  each  fide,  which  made  the  benches ;  and  confequently  this  place  was 
fix  feet  and  a  half  broad  t  ;  fo  that  now  there  was  on  each  fide  of 
the  paffage  a  fort  of  rifing  or  bench,  two  feet  and  a  half  high,  and 
eighteen  inches  wide,  which  continued  on  for  the  length  of  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  feet,  according  to  the  meafure  that  was  taken, 
tho'  fome  fay  it  is  a  hundred  and  forty  feet.  At  the  end  of  this  there  is  a 
floor  eight  or  nine  feet  long,  and  fix  feet  and  a  half  broad,  the  fame  as 
the  paffage  above  the  benches.  This  floor  is  mark'd  R.  in  the  large  draw- 
ing at  the  end  of  this  gallery.  In  the  benches  next  the  walls,  there  are 
at  the  diftance  of  every  two  feet  and  a  half,  holes  one  foot  long,  fix  inches 
broad,  and  eight  inches  deep,  cut  down  perpendicularly.  I  lhall  explain 
the  ufe  they  made  of  the  benches  and  holes,  which  are  in  the  paflage  P.  as 
reprefented  at  The  fides  of  the  gallery  rife  above  thefe  benches  five 
and  twenty  feet,  twelve  of  which  are  exadtly  perpendicular,  at  which 
height  it  projedts  three  inches,  and  three  feet  higher  three  inches  more  ; 
then  three  feet  higher  it  fets  out  again  three  inches  ;  and  three  feet  higher 
there  is  a  fourth  projection  of  three  inches,  from  which,  to  the  cieling  of 
the  gallery,  which  is  flat,  it  is  four  feet  more ;  the  cieling  being  about 
the  fame  breadth  as  the  paflage  between  the  benches,  that  is,  about  three 
feet  three  inches.  This  height  was  neceflary  to  the  architect,  in  order  to 
place  the  ftones  intended  to  fill  up  the  paflages.  What  is  here  faid  about 
the  leffening  of  the  gallery,  may  be  feen  at  S. 

At  the  end  of  the  paflage  H.  and  the  entrance  of  the  gallery,  there  is  on 
the  right  hand,  an  opening  made  in  the  wall,  which  takes  up  fome  part 
of  the  bench.  This  hole  is  almoft  round,  fomething  like  a  door  place,  a- 
bout  three  feet  high,  and  two  feet  and  a  half  broad.  From  this  opening 
one  goes  down  into  a  well,  of  which  I  fhall  make  mention  hereafter,  and 
for  what  purpofe  it  was  intended.    This  hole  is  feen  at  I. 

When  they  had  once  got  to  this  gallery,  it  was  no  difficult  matter  for 
them  to  break  the  ftones  that  were  in  the  channel,  mark'd  P.  not  only  be- 
caufe  they  were  a  foot  above  the  benches,  but  by  reafon  of  the  greater 
breadth  of  the  gallery,  which  gave  the  workmen  more  room,  and  a  greater 
command  of  their  tools ;  and  they  could  begin  by  the  laft  ftone,  which 
was  the  more  eafily  mafter'd,  as  they  could  ft  and  upright  at  their  work ; 
which  being  done,  and  all  the  rubbifh  removed,  they  look'd  for  the  bot- 
tom 

f  The  expreffions  of  the  author  are  obfeure,  but  this  feems  to  be  the  fenfe  of  them. 

I 


ON    EGYPT.  a37 

torn  of  the  channel,  and  obferved,  that  the  ftones  for  the  fpace  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen  feet,  mark'd  with  the  letter  L.  *  did  not  go  acrofs  under  the  benches; 
by  which  they  found,  it  would  be  eafy  to  raife  up  thofe  ftones,  one  after 
another  ;  which  being  done,  they  came  to  a  floor  ten  feet  long :  At  the 
depth  of  ten  feet,  and  at  the  end  of  this  floor,  they  found,  the  paflage  was 
continued  on,  and  that  it  form'd,  at  the  end  of  the  gallery,  a  triangle  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen  feet  ,•  and  at  the  fame  time  they  difcover'd  even  with 
the  floor,  and  at  the  left  of  the  paflage  which  led  to  the  gallery,  a  fur- 
ther continuation  of  the  way,  three  feet  three  inches  fquare.  This  new 
paflage  being  cover'd  before  by  the  ftones  juft  removed,  they  concluded, 
that  it  muft  lead  to  fome  fecret  place  of  the  pyramid  ;  upon  which  it  was 
refolved  to  examine  further,  which  was  eafily  done  by  removing  the  ftones 
that  flopped  it  up  at  N.  As  it  was  in  a  right  line,  fo  they  broke  away 
the  ftone,  and  the  paflage  was  found  to  be  a  hundred  and  eighteen  feet 
long,  at  the  end  of  which  was  an  arched  chamber. 

This  room  mark'd  O.  is  feventeen  feet  and  a  half  long,  and  fifteen  feet  The  firft 
ten  inches  broad ;  the  covering  is  in  form  of  a  triangle.  On  the  eaft  of  the  chamber' 
room  is  a  niche  in  the  wall,  three  inches  deep,  eight  feet  high,  and  three 
feet  broad.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  there  was  in  this  niche  a  mummy 
fet  upright,  as  was  the  cuftom  of  the  Egyptians.  It  is  probable,  that  it  was 
the  body  of  the  Queen  of  that  Prince  who  built  the  pyramid ;  and  there 
is  no  doubt,  but  that  the  King  himfelf  was  depofited  in  the  upper  room 
which  is  directly  over  it,  at  about  the  height  of  one  hundred  feet,  as 
may  be  feen  at  O.  and  D  D.  Entering  the  laft  room,  the  furtheft  ftone 
on  the  right  hand  projects  three  inches,  which  had  been  contrived  on 
purpofe  to  prevent  the  ftone,  which  was  to  clofe  up  the  paflage  N.  from 
being  thruft  in.  It  is  probable,  this  ftone  was  fo  contrived  on  that  fide, 
as  to  fit  it,  and  join  clofe  to  the  wall  of  the  room  at  the  entrance.  I  muft 
not  leave  this  place  without  making  mention  of  a  difcovery,  which  I  made 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  paflage,  that  is  a  hundred  and  eighteen  feet  long, 
which  leads  to  this  place  ;  it  is,  that  the  ftones,  with  which  it  is  built,  are 
cracked  acrofs  the  whole  length  of  the  paflage.  I  {hall  leave  it  to  thofe  who 
are  more  skilful  than  myfelf,  to  decide  what  could  be  the  caufe  of  this 
flaw,  tho'  I  conjecture,  it  might  be  occafion'd  by  an  earthquake,  or  per- 
haps by  the  fettling  of  this  weighty  building,  which  might  be  heavier  on 
one  fide  than  the  other.  I  did  not  fee  any  fuch  crack  in  any  other  part  of 
the  pyramid,  tho'  I  examined  it  with  the  utmoft  care ;  efpecially  there  is  no 
part  of  the  gallery  but  what  I  have  examined  with  the  greateft  diligence. 

To  fupply  the  want  of  a  rod  or  pole,  which  could  not  be  brought  thro' 
the  winding  of  the  paffages,  I  order'd  feveral  fhort  rods  to  be  faften'd  to- 
gether, at  the  end  of  which  I  fix'd  a  light,  and  fo  held  it  up  as  near  the 
arch  and  walls  as  pofllble,  without  ever  being  able  to  obferve  any  defects. 
I  could  only  perceive,  that  the  fides  were  a  little  damaged,  and  that  to- 
wards the  right  hand  fide  a  piece  of  the  wall  was  broke  off  at  the  top  of 
the  narrowing  of  the  gallery,  which  might  have  happen'd  by  the  fall  of 
fome  ftone,  which  in  the  clofing  of  the  pyramid,  in  the  manner  I  lhall  de- 
fcribe  hereafter,  might  roll  off  the  fcaffold  and  break  this  ftone. 

Doubtlefs  they  had  a  notion,  that  there  was  fome  hidden  treafure  un- 
der this  firft  room  ;  which  may  be  concluded  from  their  breaking  up  the 

*  See  the  feventeenth  plate. 

Vol.  I.  P  p  p  floor, 


OBSERVATIONS 


floor,  by  which  one  may  go  between  feveral  Hones,  that  lie  in  a  confufed 
order,  into  the  body  of  the  pyramid,  for  about  twenty  paces;  the  ftones 
taken  out  at  this  place  almoft  fill  the  room.  They  attempted  the  fame  in 
the  upper  room  ;  but  it  is  probable,  that  in  both  places,  they  had  no  other 
reward  for  the  great  pains  they  were  at  in  defacing  fuch  a  beautiful  piece 
of  architecture,  than  the  difappointment  in  having  beftow'd  their  time 
and  labour  to  no  purpofe. 

Having  difcover'd  every  thing  in  this  firft  room,  it  remain'd  only  to  pe- 
netrate into  that  where  the  body  of  the  King  was  depofited.  They  did 
not  doubt,  but  they  fhould  find  it  at  that  void  fpace,  which  was  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  gallery,  directly  over  the  firft  chamber.  Accordingly,  at  the 
end  of  that  place  which  is  mark'd  R.  they  found  the  paffage  extended  fur- 
ther, and  was  three  feet  three  inches  wide,  and  well  flopped  up  at  T.  It 
is  probable,  that  the  firft  ftone  was  fo  well  fixed  as  to  coft  them  great  la- 
bour to  remove  it ;  which  appears  by  a  piece  of  the  upper  ftone  which 
was  broke  off",  in  order,  no  doubt,  to  have  a  better  hold  on  the.  under  one, 
which  flopped  up  the  paffage.  This  being  removed  with  great  labour,  they 
took  out  another  with  the  fame  difficulty:  When  thefe  two  were  taken  away, 
there  appear'd  a  void  fpace  fevcn  feet  and  a  half  long ;  and  being  defirous 
to  clear  the  way  further,  they  found  a  third  ftone,  that  could  not  be  got 
out,  being  every  way  larger  than  the  hole  that  it  flopped  up.  This  was 
the  laft  artifice  of  the  architect,  to  deceive  any  perfons  that  might  get  fo 
far,  and  to  prevent  their  looking  any  more  after  the  private  chamber, 
which  is  but  twelve  paces  from  this  place,  in  which  lay  the  body  of  the 
King,  and  where  they  would  have  found  the  treafure,  if  any  had  been 
depofited  with  him.  Still  this  did  not  difcourage  the  workmen,  nor 
deceive  them  ;  for  they  fet  about  breaking  the  ftone,  which  they  muft 
have  done  with  much  labour  ;  it  was  fix  feet  long,  four  feet  broad,  and 
perhaps  five  or  fix  feet  high.  There  was  a  void  fpace  here  of  fifteen 
feet  high,  which  at  the  height  of  eight  feet  enlarged  itfelf  about  four  feet, 
towards  the  gallery,  and  is  mark'd  W.  and  coi  refponded  to  an  opening  of 
the  pafiage  eighteen  inches  broad,  which  was  two  feet  from  the  great  flone  : 
I  fhall  hereafter  mention  the  ufe  it  was  intended  for.  At  the  upper  end 
of  this  void  fpace  there  are  three  holes  a  foot  deep  and  broad,  mark'd  A  A. 
which  were  made  on  purpofe  to  fix  in  large  pieces  of  timber,  to  which 
cords  were  faften'd,  and  fixed,  by  means  of  iron  rings  to  that  great  ftone 
which  I  havemention'd,  and  kept  it  hung  up  in  this  void  fpace,  where  it  re- 
main'd till  fuch  time  as  it  was  to  be  let  down  on  the  pafiage  B  B.  which  was 
to  be  when  the  King's  body  fhould  be  depofited  in  the  room.  The  opening 
eighteen  inches  wide  in  the  pafiage,  mark'd  V.  two  feet  from  that  void 
fpace  in  which  the  great  ftone  hung,  muft  have  been  defign'd  for  the 
workmen  to  get  out,  after  they  had  let  down  the  ftone ;  and  when  they 
had  quitted  the  place,  the  hole  was  flopped  up  clofe  with  a  ftone  two  feet 
thick  only,  which  had  been  fet  under  it,  to  which  two  rings  were  faften'd. 
At  the  further  end  of  the  upper  part  of  it,  two  chains  were  fix'd  to  the 
two  rings,  which  were  faften'd  to  another  heavier  ftone  that  hung  over 
the  opening  Z.  occupied  by  the  great  ftone  that  left  the  fpace  void  when 
it  fell  down  :  The  ropes  that  kept  up  that  great  ftone  were  fix'd  to  the  pil- 
lar Y.  in  the  paffage,  and  were  held  by  the  under  ftone,  till  the  workmen 
got  out  by  the  hole  eighteen  inches  wide,  which  is  between  this  and  the 

upper 


'  ON    EGYPT,  &tf 

upper  opening ;  when  they  were  out,  they  let  it  go,  and  the  ftone  was 
raifed  up  in  its  place,  where  it  was  flay'd  by  another  ftone,  contrived  for 
that  purpofe,  three  inches  thick,  and  fix  or  feven  broad;  it  is  at  about  a 
man's  height  in  the  void  place  mark'd  V.  which  was  part  of  the  laft  con- 
trivance ufed  to  prevent  the  entring  into  the  room :  This  ftone  mark'd  X. 
is  to  be  well  obferv'd.  Along  the  walls,  on  each  fide  of  the  paffage  in 
which  the  great  ftone  fix  feet  long,  and  four  feet  broad,  was  put ;  there 
are  grooves  wrought  round,  three  inches  deep;  the  fedtion  of  which  are 
in  the  figure ;  thefe  grooves  were  made  to  let  it  down  more  exactly  in  the 
place  it  was  to  occupy,  and  likewife  that  it  might  fix  more  firmly  in  its 
place,  in  cafe  any  perfons  mould  attempt  to  open  it.  All  this  fhews  the 
great  care  that  was  taken  to  fecure  the  body  of  the  Prince  from  being  dif- 
cover'd,  if  there  fhould  happen  to  be  men  fo  impious  as  to  undertake  it* 
And,  if  afterwards  the  ftone  eighteen  inches  broad  and  three  feet  and 
a  half  long,  which  is  the  dimenfion  of  the  opening  mark'd  V.  in  the  paf- 
fage,  was  put  in  its  place,  and  there  happen'd  to  be  a  fmall  opening,  it 
might  be  fill'd  up  with  cement,  and  it  is  poffible,  the  ftone  might  be  all 
cover'd  with  mortar,  which  would  make  its  motion  flower,  refitting  the 
force  of  the  counterpoife,  and  a  few  blows  with  a  hammer  would  clear  off 
the  fuperfluous  mortar,  and  make  it  go  into  its  place ;  this  ftone  is  not 
now  feen,  nor  the  other  large  one,  being  both  doubtlefs  broke  to  pieces  to 
be  carried  away.  If  any  one  examines  with  care  the  difpofition  of  the  void 
places  that  have  been  defcribed,  which  are  but  fix  feet  from  the  entrance 
of  the  room  where  the  King's  body  was  depofited ;  he  muft  be  perfuaded, 
that  it  was  executed  in  this  manner,  and  admire  the  art  and  ingenuity  of 
the  architect:  To  make  all  this  the  plainer,  it  is  reprefented  feparately, 
and  with  a  larger  fcale,  in  the  draught  near  the  pyramid,  which  will  make 
the  whole  affair  better  underftood  than  any  defcription. 

After  having  cut  away  the  great  ftone  from  the  place  where  it  was  fix'd,  The  ftcond 
they  came  at  length  to  the  laft  ftone  at  the  entrance  of  the  chamber;  it 
fill'd  the  fpace  BB.  This  was  eafily  taken  out ;  and  being  removed  with 
little  trouble,  gave  admittance  into  the  room  which  is  mark'd  DD.  It 
is  cover'd  at  top  with  nine  rows  of  ftone ;  the  feven  middle  rows  are  four 
feet  broad  each,  and  above  fixteen  long,  having  both  ends  laid  on  the 
walls  from  eaft  to  weft,  which  are  fixteen  feet  apart  ;  there  appears  no 
more  than  two  feet  of  the  breadth  of  each  of  the  other  two  ftones,  the 
remainder  being  hid  by  the  walls  on  which  they  reft.  Whatever  was  in 
this  room,  at  prefent  nothing  remains  but  a  tomb  of  granite  marble,  fe- 
ven or  eight  feet  long,  four  broad,  and  four  deep;  it  was  put  here  when  the 
room  was  built,  before  it  was  clofed  up,  and  remains  in  the  fame  place,  as 
it  is  impoffible  to  take  it  out  without  breaking  it  to  pieces,  which  would  be 
to  no  purpofe ;  it  formerly  had  a  cover,  as  appears  by  the  make  of  the  edge, 
but  in  removing  it,  it  was  broke  to  pieces,  and  no  remains  of  it  are  left. 
This  cheft,  no  doubt,  contain'd  the  body  of  the  King  inclofed  in  three  or 
four  chefts  of  fine  wood,  as  was  ufual  among  the  great  people:  It  is  like- 
wife  probable,  that  this  room  contain'd  feveral  other  chefts  befides  that  of 
the  Prince,  efpecially  thofe  that  belong'd  to  the  people,  who  were  fhut  up 
with  him  in  his  tomb,  to  keep  him  company  :  For,  when  the  body  of  the 
King,  who  built  this  pyramid,  was  depofited  in  this  fumptuous  Maufoleum, 
it  is  to  befuppofed,  there  were  at  the  fame  time  living  perfons  broughtinto  it3 

who 


3 


z4o  OBSERVATIONS 

who  were  never  to  go  out  of  it,  but  to  bury  themfelves,  as  it  were,  alive 
with  their  Prince.  This  is  a  fadt  which  I  cannot  queftion,  after  the  con- 
vincing proofs  which  I  have  had  of  it.  I  ground  my  opinion  of  this 
matter  of  fait  upon  this  foundation,  that  dire&ly  in  the  middle  of 
this  room,  which  is  thirty-two  feet  long,  nineteen  feet  high,  and  fixteen 
broad,  there  are  two  holes  oppofite  to  one  another,  three  feet  and  a  half 
above  the  floor,  one  towards  the  north  is  one  foot  broad  and  eight  inches 
high,  it  goes  quite  through  in  a  right  line  to  the  exterior  part  of  the 
pyramid:  This  hole  is  now  ftopp'd  up  with  ftone,  within  five  or  fix 
feet  of  its  opening:  The  other,  which  is  open  towards  the  eaft,  and 
of  the  fame  height  from  the  floor,  is  perfectly  round  ;  it  is  large  enough 
to  thruft  in  two  fifts  ;  it  enlarges  to  a  foot  diameter,  and  goes  Hoping 
down  to  the  bottom  of  the  pyramid;  the  two  holes  are  mark'd  C.  I 
believe  every  one  will  conclude,  that  they  were  intended  for  no  other 
ufes  than  the  conveniency  of  thofe  that  were  to  remain  in '  this  tomb  ; 
the  firft  was  to  give  them  air,  and  convey  to  them  their  focd,  and 
other  neceffaries;  they  were  no  doubt  provided  with  a  long  box  propor- 
tionable to  the  width  of  the  paffage  ;  to  this  box  was  faften'd  a  long 
cord  by  the  help  of  which  they  could  draw  in  the  box ;  the  other  cord 
was  left  hanging  to  the  outfide  of  the  pyramid,  for  the  people  with- 
out to  draw  out  the  box ;  it  is  probable,  this  was  the  manner  they  were 
fupplied  with  neceffaries  as  long  as  any  of  them  remain'd  alive.  I  fup- 
pofe,  at  their  going  in,  each  of  them  had  provided  himfelf  with  a  coffin 
to  be  laid  in;  and  that  they  fucceffively  perform'd  that  pious  and  laft 
duty,  of  putting  each  into  his  coffin,  except  the  laft,  who  fail'd  of 
that  fuccour,  which  the  reft  of  the  company  had  found  in  him  and  the 
others.  The  fecond  hole  was  to  convey  their  excrements,  which  fell  into  a 
great  pit  made  for  that  purpofe.  I  intended  to  have  had  the  outfide  of  the 
pyramid  examined,  to  fee  where  the  fquare  hole  ended ;  and  perhaps  there 
might  have  been  found  frefh  proofs  of  what  I  have  faid  ;  but  luch  an  exa- 
mination would  have  given  fufpicion  to  the  government  of  the  country, 
who  would  have  imagined,  that  it  was  to  feek  after  hidden  treafures.  I 
thought  alfo,  that  the  hole  might  end  in  fome  fort  of  cavity  without- 
fide,  and  might  be  entirely  ftopp'd  up,  at  leaft.  on  the  outfide.  How- 
ever, others  may  examine  the  place,  and  find  a  full  proof  of  the  ufe  it 
was  intended  for ;  though  to  me  it  feems  paft  difpute,  and  that  it  is  not 
poffible  to  imagine  any  other  ufe  it  could  be  put  to. 

Having  explain'd  as  clearly  as  the  matter  would  admit,  in  what  man- 
ner and  by  what  means  the  pyramid  was  probably  broke  open,  it  remains 
now  to  folve  a  doubt,  which  may  arife  from  reading  the  firft  part;  and 
that  is,  to  know  where  fuch  a  great  number  of  ftones  could  be  put,  as 
was  required  to  fill  up  the  paffages,  which  I  have  mention'd;  in  what 
manner  it  was  done,  and  how  the  workmen  afterwards  came  out ;  this 
is  certainly  as  curious  as  the  reft,  and  deferves  at  leaft  as  much  atten- 
tion. 

Thcfecretof    I  have  already  mention'd,  that  in  the  benches  on  each  fide  of  the  paf- 
thc  Gallery.  fage  ;n  tjle  ga\\ery}  which  is  an  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  long,  there 
had  been  made  holes  or  mortices  cut  down  perpendicularly  one  foot  long, 
fix  inches  broad,  and  eight  inches  deep,  as  may  be  feen  at  Thefe 
mortices  were  direclly  oppofite  to  each  other,  and  continued  the  whole 

length 


ON  EGYPT. 

length  of  the  benches,  at  the  diftance  of  two  feet  and  a  half  from  one 
another  ;  thefe  holes  were  left  when  they  built  the  gallery,  in  order  to 
fix  into  each  of  them  a  piece  of  timber  one  foot  fquare,  and  three  or  four 
feet  long,  with  a  tenant  at  each  end,  fix  inches  thick,  and  eight  inches 
long  ;  thefe  timbers  and  joints  made  a  fcaffold  to  put  the  ftones  on,  that 
were  neceffary  to  flop  up  all  the  paflages  that  were  to  be  fill'd  up  in  the 
infide  of  the  pyramid,  as  well  as  this  gallery  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-four 
feet  in  length,  mark'd  P.  which  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  gallery.  Thefe 
joints  were  likewife  fhaped  at  the  upper  end,  fo  as  to  be  fix'd  into  the 
mortices  of  long  beams  of  timber  laid  on  them,  to  fupport  planks  fix  feet 
fix  inches  long,  and  fix  inches  thick,  made  very  fmooth,  on  which  courfes 
of  ftones  were  laid.  The  benches,  as  I  faid  before,  being  two  feet  and  a 
half  high  from  the  bottom  of  the  gallery,  I  fuppofe  the  fcaffold  was  fet 
three  feet  above  them;  fo  that,  from  the  bottom  to  the  fcaffold,  there  was 
a  height  of  five  feet  and  a  half,  for  the  workmen  to  pafs  backwards  and 
forwards. 

I  alfo  mention'd,  that  the  height  from  the  bottom  of  the  paffage  to  the  top 
of  the  gallery  was  twenty-feven  feet  and  a  half;  from  this  floor  of  the  paf- 
fage it  was  fix  feet  to  the  fcaffold ;  fo  that,  from  the  fcaffold  to  the  arch,  there 
remain'd  one  and  twenty  feet  and  a  half ;  in  which  fpace,  fetting  four  courfes 
of  ftones  three  feet  and  a  half  thick,  which  were  neceflary  to  fill  up  the  paf- 
lages; there  was  ftill  avoid  fpace  of  feven  feet  and  a  half  high:  But  I  fuppofe, 
that  from  the  firft  courfe  to  the  fecond,  they  fet  between  the  ftones  a 
plank  about  three  inches  thick,  and  the  like  from  the  fecond  to  the  third, 
that  it  might  be  eafier  to  Aide  them  off",-  three  courfes  of  thefe  ftones  were 
fufficient  to  fill  up  all  the  void  places,  that  were  to  be  ftopp'd  up,  and 
which  are  now  open'd.  Perhaps  in  the  body  of  the  pyramid,  there  are 
other  paflages  ftopp'd  up,  and  not  yet  difcover'd  ;  becaufe  in  the  gallery 
they  might  have  placed  four  or  five  more  courfes  of  ftones,  if  there  was 
occafion  :  One  may  be  fatisfied  of  this  by  the  calculation  I  have  made ; 
neither  do  I  think  it  likely,  that  they  would  have  made  the  gallery  higher 
than  was  abfolutely  neceflary,  as  it  made  the  body  of  the  building  fo  much 
the  weaker. 

But  we  fhall  go  no  farther  than  the  known  paflages,  which  have  been 
found  open ;  and  the  ftones  which  fill'd  them  up  have  been  fince  broke  to 
pieces,  excepting  three  feet  and  a  half  or  four  feet  of  them,  which  re- 
main in  the  place  mark'd  F,  which  now  fill  the  upper  paflage,  anfwer- 
ing  to  the  firft  paffage,  mark'd  B.  which  I  call  the  outfide  paffage,  be- 
caufe it  was  fill'd  up  from  the  outfide  of  the  pyramid,  whereas  the  others 
were  ftopp'd  up  from  the  infide  of  it  by  thefe  ftones  in  the  gallery :  And 
I  lay  it  down  as  a  matter  of  faft,  that  three  courfes  of  ftone  were  fuffi- 
cient to  fill  up  all  the  paflages,  as  every  one  may  be  convinced  from  this 
computation. 

it  firft  required  thirteen  feet  and  a  half  of  ftone  to  fill  up  the  paflage 
that  led  to  the  royal  chamber  even  with  the  void  fpace  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  gallery,  which  they  took  down  from  the  fcaffold  to  the  floor,  mark'd 
R.  A  ftone  of  fix  feet  fquare  they  put  into  the  paffage  as  far  as  the 
chamber  door,  in  the  place  mark'd  DD.  where  it  was  ftopp'd  by  the  floor 
of  the  room,  which  was  raifed  two  inches  higher  than  the  bottom  of 
the  paffage:  Then  they  let  fall  into  the  paffage  the  ftone  fix  feet  in 

Vol.  1.  Qjj  q  dimenfion, 


OBSERVATIONS 

dimenfion,  which  I  faid  was  hanging  in  the  void  place  mark'd  Z.  Then, 
as  foon  as  the  workmen  had  withdrawn  from  this  place,  it  was  fill'd  up, 
together  with  the  opening  mark'd  V.  and  when  they  had  clofed  it  up, 
they  took  down  from  the  fcaffold  two  other  ftones,  feven  feet  and  a  half 
in  the  fquare  meafure,  by  which  this  paffage,  that  is  but  nineteen  feet 
long,  was  perfectly  ftopp'd  up.  It  is  to  be  fuppofed,  that  in  order  to 
facilitate  the  performance  of  this  work,  there  was  fix'd  in  the  floor  of 
the  gallery,  over  againft  the  ftones  on  the  fcaffold,  a  ftrong  machine  of 
iron  and  lubfiantial  pulleys,  by  the  help  of  which  the  workmen,  Handing 
on  the  floor,  could  by  ropes  take  down  the  ftones  from  the  fcaffold,  one 
after  another,  and  brin-r  them  to  the  very  floor,  by  making  a  hole  in  the 
top  of  them  to  fix  a  lewis  in,  by  which  the  workmen  having  a  fure  hold, 
they  brought  them  to  the  floor,  and  convey 'd  them  with  very  little  trouble 
where  they  were  to  place  them. 

The  firft:  paffage  being  thus  fill'd  up,  they  went  about  the  other,  a 
hundred  and  eighteen  feet  long,  mark'd  N.  This  paffage,  as  before  men- 
tion'd,  leads  up  to  the  firft  room,  where  it  is  probable  the  Queen's  body 
was  depofited,  at  the  letter  O.  this  was  a  very  eafy  work.  Then  they 
took  as  many  ftones  as  were  wanted  to  conceal  the  entrance  of  the  paflage 
and  level  the  channel  mark'd  L.  and  cover'd  that  floor,  ten  feet  in  dimen- 
fion, that  was  form'd  by  the  triangle  mark'd  L  M.  at  the  entrance  of  the 
gallery;  after  which,  having  taken  a  hundred  feet  more  of  ftones,  they 
fill'd  up  the  area  of  tire  paffage  mark'd  H.  which  is  that  where  the  entry 
into  the  pyramid  was  forced;  this  is  utterly  defaced  the  length  of 
eighty  feet.  Then  a  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  more  of  the  ftone 
fill'd  up  the  paffage  at  the  bottom  of  the  gallery,  mark'd  P.  over  which 
the  fcaffold  was  built,  and  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  the  laft  ftone  which 
fill'd  up  this  paffage,  was  fupported  by  an  elevation  of  four  or  five  inches 
at  the  end  of  the  paffage,  as  is  already  mention'd,  which  has  not  been  for- 
got in  the  draught. 

What  I  have  faid  in  relation  to  the  clofing  up  the  pafiages  of  the  py- 
ramid, and  the  ufe  of  the  gallery,  will  perhaps  appear  new,  and  bold 
enough  for  fome  critics  to  call  it  a  chimera ;  but  I  do  not  pretend  to  be 
abfolutely  pofitive  upon  this  article ;  however,  it  is  a  probable  fyftem,  that 
may  give  fome  light  into  wonders  that  had  been  conceal'd  to  this  day  ;  and 
it  is  difficult  to  account  how  it  could  otherwife  be  executed.  One  may  fee, 
that  it  was  not  poffible,  after  the  pyramid  was  finifhed,  that  is  to  fay,  after 
the  pafiages  were  made,  and  the  arch  of  the  gallery  clofed,  to  get  ftones  into 
that  gallery  of  a  proper  bignefs  to  fill  them  up;  on  the  contrary,  one  may 
fee,  the  architect  had  difficulty  enough  in  taking  care  that  no  body  fhould 
ever  be  able  to  take  out  thofe  ftones  he  had  enclofed,  to  fhut  it  up  in  fuch 
a  manner  that  he  thought  it  would  be  impoffible  to  find  out  the  entrance. 
One  may  fee  the  intent  of  the  architect  alfo,  in  the  long  channel  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  gallery,  and  may  fuppofe,  that  it  was  made  only  to  convey  ftones, 
which  were  one  day  to  clofe  the  infide  paffage;  and  may  judge  by  the 
fiay,  which  is  found  at  the  upper  end  of  that  channel,  that  it  was  likewife 
to  be  fill'd  up,  after  the  pafiages  fhould  be  ftopp'd ;  the  exquifite  polifh 
of  that  channel  confirms  me  in  the  opinion  of  this  double  ufe  of  it,  and 
I  remark'd,  that  its  length  is  proportion'd  to  that  of  the  infide  paffage. 
One  may  fee,  that  that  paffage  is  ftill  partly  fhut  up,  that  is,  in  the  place 

which 


ON  EGYPT.  a4 

which  makes  an  angle  with  the  outfide  paffage.  It  is  vifible,  that  they  did 
not  penetrate  into  the  pyramid  by  this  true  paffage,  but  on  the  contrary 
they  were  obliged  to  force  another  way;  by  which,  getting  to  one  of  the 
fides  of  the  paffage,  they  had  more  command  over  the  ftones  with  which  it 
was  filled  up.  From  this  opening  force  was  ufed,  and  it  is  defaced  the  whole 
length,  which  fhews,  that  they  were  obliged  to  ufe  violence  to  clear  it ;  and 
I  conclude,  from  its  being  defaced  to  the  very  entrance  of  the  gallery,  that 
the  ftones  which  were  in  it  were  broken ;  and  that  for  the  length  of  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  feet,  there  was  in  the  channel  and  behind  it,  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  more  of  thefe  ftones,  to  be  a  fupply  in  the  place  of 
thofe  that  mould  be  taken  away.  I  again  fufpedt,  that  thofe  who  broke 
open  the  pyramid,  had  fome  knowledge  of  thefe  ftones  inclofed  in  that 
channel  ;  for,  if  they  had  been  intirely  ignorant,  they  would  only  have 
broke  the  ftone  that  filled  up  the  paffage  at  the  opening  they  forced,  which 
would  have  been  eafier  for  them;  and  if  they  went  to  work  otherwife,  it 
was  from  the  knowledge  they  had  of  the  ftones  in  the  channel  ready  to 
Aide  down  in  the  paflage,  as  faft  as  it  fhould  be  clear'd. 

I  have  hinted,  that  in  the  body  of  the  pyramid,  there  may  be  other  open- 
ings, which  were  clofed  up,  and  not  yet  difcover'd,  and  perhaps  it  was  not 
without  fome  grounds  that  they  fearch'd  for  them ;  but  they  happen'd  to 
be  wrong,  when  they  thought  to  find  them  under  the  floors  of  the  two 
rooms.  Doubtlefs  they  muft  be  look'd  for,  and  the  entrance  can  be  no 
where  but  about  the  middle  of  the  channel. 

I  muft  likewife  obferve,  that  the  dots  which  are  hear  the  letter  M.  are  to 
fhew  certain  holes  purpofely  made  at  the  time  of  the  building  of  the  pyra- 
mid. They  were  intended  as  fteps  for  fuch  as  would  go  up  from  the  paf- 
lage a  hundred  and  eighteen  feet  long,  leading  to  the  firft  room,  towards 
the  channel ;  which,  as  I  faid  above,  was  broke  off  in  this  place,  or  for 
thofe  who  would  go  down  from  this  channel.  I  have  already  remark'd, 
that  from  the  bottom  of  the  channel,  a  man  might  go  upright  under  the 
fcaffold.  There  is  no  doubt,  but  that  there  were  on  each  fide  of  the  gal- 
lery, under  the  fcaffold,  ropes  faften'd  acrofs  to  the  joints,  to  help  them 
up  and  down  without  Aiding;  they  at  firft  ferved  for  the  workmen  in  the 
building  of  the  gallery,  and  filling  up  the  paffages,  and  then  for  thofe  who 
afterwards  went  to  fee  the  rooms,  as  well  as  for  thofe  who  carried  the 
bodies  of  the  King  and  Queen  to  be  depofited  ;  and  laftly,  for  thofe  who 
went  to  remain  in  the  room,  and  die  near  their  King:  There  is  no  doubt, 
then,  but  that  all  the  infide  paffages  of  the  pyramid  were  fill'd  up  with 
the  ftones  that  were  on  that  fcaffold. 

After  having  given  the  finifhing  ftroke  to  all  thefe  works,  there  remain'd  The  wall, 
nothing  but  for  the  workmen  to  get  out ;  except  we  fuppofe,  that  they  pulled 
down  the  fcaffold,  and  convey'd  the  timber  out  by  the  fame  way  that  they 
were  to  go  themfelves,  which  was  no  other  than  by  the  well  I.  which  1  have 
mention'd.  The  entrance  of  this  well  occupies  part  of  the  bench;  it 
rifes  about  two  feet  up  in  the  wall,  is  almoft  round  or  oval;  and  is 
mark'd  I.  .  This  well  goes  down  towards  the  bottom  of  the  pyramid,  firft 
in  a  perpendicular  line,  then  in  an  inclined  plane,  as  may  be  feen  in  the 
feclion  of  the  pyramid.  About  two  feet  from  the  mouth  A.  there  is  a 
fquare  hole,  by  which  one  goes  into  a  little  grotto  cut  in  the  mountain, 
which  here  is  not  ftone,  but  a  lort  of  gravel,  the  pebbles  of  which  are 

firmly 

3 


OBSERVATIONS 

firmly  cemented  together.  This  grotto  extends  from  eaft  to  weft,  perhaps  a- 
bout  fifteen  feet  long  ;  then  there  is  found  another  channel  cut  in  the  rock, 
which  Hopes  much,  and  is  very  near  the  perpendicular,  and  is  two  feet 
four  inches  one  way,  two  feet  and  a  half  the  other,  and  a  hundred  and 
twenty-three  feet  deep  ;  in  which  there  is  nothing  but  fand  and  ftones, 
which  were  either  purpofely  thrown  there,  or  have  fallen  down  of  them- 
felves.  I  am  convinced,  that  this  place  was  never  intended  for  any  other 
ufe  but  for  the  workmen  to  get  out ;  thefe  Hoping  defcents,  the  windings, 
narrownefs,  and  depth  are  proofs  of  it.  It  may  be,  it  was  cut  in  feveral 
windings,  fome  of  them  probably  returning  towards  the  mouth  of  it.  I 
do  not  doubt,  but  that  there  hung  over  the  entrance  of  it  a  range  of  ftones, 
which  were  by  fome  means  kept  up,  and  afterwards  made  to  fall  by  cer- 
tain fprings,  that  were  fet  on  work  after  the  workmen  were  out  of  the  py- 
ramid, and  fo  fhut  up  this  paffage  for  ever.  In  fact  we  do  not  find,  that 
it  ever  was  attempted,  either  becaufe  it  never  was  known,  or  that  its  nar- 
rownefs would  not  admit  any  one  to  work  at  it.  The  pyramid  was  broke 
open  by  the  great  way,  which  ferved,  no  doubt,  to  convey  the  King's  body 
into  the  pyramid,  and  for  thofe  who  aflifted  at  the  funeral,  and  went  out 
again  after  having  perform'd  the  laft  duty  to  their  Prince,  and  depofited 
his  body  in  the  tomb  which  he  himfelf  had  prepared. 


CHAP.  VII. 

Of  the  Religion  of  the  C  o  p  t  i  s  in  Egypt. 

ST.  MARK  is  faid  to  have  firft  preach'd  the  gofpel  in  Egypt,  and  is 
efteem'd  the  firft  patriarch  of  Alexandria.  During  the  perfecutions, 
as  obferved  before,  many  of  the  Chriftians  of  Egypt  retired  to  Cop- 
tus,  and  the  places  about  it;  from  which  it  is  faid,  they  were  call'd  Coptis. 
Diofcores,  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  embraced  in  part,  the  opinion  of  Euty- 
ches:  'Till  that  time  they  were  in  union  with  the  catholic  church.  This 
opinion  was  condemn'd  by  the  fourth  general  council  held  at  Chalcedon; 
and  feveral  Emperors  fetting  themfelves  to  fupprefs  it,  it  is  faid,  that  thofe 
who  had  the  upper  hand,  ufed  the  Coptis  with  fo  much  feverity,  that  it 
gave  them  a  great  averfion  to  their  oppreffors,  which  they  retain  to  this  day 
towards  the  Franks  and  Greeks;  and  it  is  increafed  againft  the  former,  ly 
their  endeavours  to  make  converts  of  them.  Thofe  of  the  other  fide  were 
call'd  Melchites,  or  Royalifts,  becaufe  they  were  fupported  by  the  govern- 
ment at  Conftantinople. 

The  Mahometans,  when  they  enterprized  the  conqueft  of  Egypt,  took 
part  with  the  Coptis,  who  were  glad  to  fee  the  Greeks  deftroy'd,  and  it 
is  faid,  turn'd  againft  them,  and  cut  feveral  of  them  off ;  fo  the  Cop- 
tis got  the  upper  hand,  and  their  patriarch  was  eftablifh'd  by  the  ruling 
powers,  as  he  is  at  prefent.  Another  divifion  happening  in  the  church, 
part  of  the  Greek  communion  remain'd  here,  in  oppofition  to  the  weftern 
church,  and  at  this  time  they  have  their  patriarch. 

The  Copti  patriarch  of  Alexandria  probably  refided  at  old  Cairo,  when 
that  became  the  capital;  and  it  may  be  fuppofed,  he  removed  into  the  pre- 
fent 


ON    EGYPT.  245 

Tent  city,  when  old  Cairo  began  to  be  deferted.  The  Greek  patriarch  aifd 
refides  there.  I  was  inform'd,  that  the  bifhops  chufe  the  patriarch,  and  that 
the  principal  Coptis  confirm  him ;  but  the  principal  Coptis  feem  to  have 
a  great  fhare  in  the  eleftion,  and  fome  of  the  former  muft  advance  the 
money  for  the  Firman  or  patent,  which  is  after  paid  out  of  the  patriarch's 
revenues:  He  is  inftall'd  at  the  eaft  end  of  the  church  of  St.  Macarius, 
where  he  is  ele&ed,  and  afterwards  in  the  chair  of  St.  Mark  in  Alexan- 
dria. 'Tis  faid  if  the  votes  (as  I  fuppofe,  viva  voce)  are  equal,  they  then  vote  in 
a  more  folemn  manner,  by  writing  the  names,  and  putting  them  on  the  altar. 

The  Copti  church  is  fomething  like  the  Greek  church  in  its  ceremo-  Coptic  ceri- 
nies;  their  liturgies  are  in  the  antient  Coptic  language,  which  is,  without  mxua- 
doubt,  the  Egyptian,  tho'  much  corrupted,  efpecially  by  the  Greek  lan- 
guage that  was  introduced  among  them  during  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies, 
when,  without  doubt,  they  took  not  only  feveral  of  their  letters,  that  might 
be  fomething  different  in  their  manner  of  pronunciation,  but  likewife  ad- 
opted many  of  their  words.    It  is  to  be  fuppofed,  that  the  Arabic  language 
took  place  of  it,  when  the  Arabs  conquer'd  this  country  ;  fo  that,  now 
the  Coptic  is  no  more  a  living  language,  nor  is  it  underftood  by  any,  ex- 
cept that  fome  of  the  priefts  underftand  a  little  of  their  liturgy,  tho'  many 
of  them  cannot  fo  much  as  read  it,  but  get  their  long  offices  by  rote,  by  a 
conftant  attendance  on  them,  and  hearing  them  frequently  repeated.  The 
epiftle  and  gofpel  are  read  both  in  the  Arabic  and  Coptic  languages.  The 
Roman  Catholics  have  their  liturgy  printed  in  the  Coptic,  with  very  few 
alterations,  chiefly  relating  to  their  praying  for  the  broachers  of  thofe  opi- 
nions that  are  favour'd  by  the  Coptis.    As  obferved  before,  they  fpend  al- 
moft  all  the  night  before  feftivals  and  holidays,  in  their  churches ;  a  cuftom 
that  might  firft  arife  from  their  meeting  at  their  devotions  at  night,  du- 
ring the  times  of  perfecution,  and  might  afterwards  be  found  very  conve- 
nient on  account  of  the  coolnefs  of  the  night,  as  well  as  to  have  the  fefti- 
val  to  themfelveSj  to  be  fpent  intirely  in  their  diverfions,  which  confift  in 
going  to  their  gardens,  cr  walking  about  and  doing  nothing.  Their 
churches  are  always  cover'd  with  matting,  and  they  take  off  their  flippers; 
and  carry  them  with  them  into  the  church ;  for  it  would  be  great  ill  man- 
ners to  come  with  them  on  the  Stora,  as  they  call  it,  even  in  their  houfes. 
They  likewife  kifs  the  pavement  when  they  come  into  the  church,  which 
may  be  another  reafon  for  keeping  it  very  clean.     Their  mufic  is  the 
Nakous  already  defcribed ;  their  chant  is  not  agreeable;  and  they  fit  on 
the  ground  very  irreverently,  for  mod  part  of  the  time  that  their  devotion 
continues;  and  when  they  are  obliged  to  ftand  up,  they  have  crutches  to  lean 
on  to  fupport  themfelves,  which  are  very  much  ufed,  the  fexton  fupply- 
ing  them  with  them.  They  have  fome  ceremonies  perform'd  in  their  church 
in  a  different  manner  from  other  churches ;  the  patriarch,  or  head  prieft, 
warning  the  feet  of  the  other  priefts,  at  the  hole  A.  in  the  plan  of  a  Coptic 
church,  in  the  feventy-firft  plate,  which  is  fill'd  with  water  ;  and  they  call 
this  hole  llahan.    Another  more  extraordinary  ceremony  is  on  the  feaft  of 
Epiphany,  when  the  hole  B.  being  fill'd  with  water,  which  is  bleffed,  the 
people  croud  to  put  in  their  feet;  and  it  is  faid,  that  in  fome  parts,  there 
are  people  that  will  jump  into  the  water  almoft  naked,  and  plunge  in  their 
children.     The  Roman  Catholics  here  blefs  the  water,  and  only  crofs 
their  foreheads  with  it.    They  have  commonly  a  pulpit  C.  on  the  north 
Vol.  I.  R  r  r  fide 


OBSERVATION  S 

fide  of  the  church ;  the  baptiftery  D.  in  moft  of  the  churches  is  a  chapel  on 
the  fouth  fide  of  the  altar.  The  priefts  have  a  very  good  reafon  for  not 
preaching.  The  patriarch,  if  I  miftake  not,  makes  a  fhort  difcourfe  to  them 
once  a  year,  and  they  read  legends  out  of  the  pulpit  on  great  feftivals.  They 
make  deacons  at  eight  or  nine  years  old,  who  always  receive  the  facra- 
ment  when  it  is  adminifter'd.  They  keep  the  funday  very  ftri&ly,  and 
will  not  work,  nor  do  any  thing  in  the  way  of  their  profeffion.  Taking 
in  wednefdays  and  fridays,  they  faft  feven  months  in  the  year.  Abftain- 
ing  from  flefh  would  be  no  great  mortification  to  thofe  who  feldom  eat 
any  ;  fo  that  it  chiefly  confifts  in  not  eating  eggs,  milk,  butter,  oil,  and 
fuch  things  as  they  commonly  ufe,  and  in  forbearing  to  eat  till  noons  or 
later.  One  great  faft  is  that  of  Lent,  which  begins  fifty-five  days  before 
Eafter;  that  of  advent  is  another,  forty-three  days  before  Chriftmas.  They 
faft  alfo  for  fifteen  days  before  the  annunciation  ;  and  during  this  faft  they 
do  not  eat  oil,  but  live  moftly  on  vegetables.  The  faft  of  the  Apoftles  be- 
gins fifty  days  after  Eafter,  for  thirteen  days  for  the  laity,  and  Something 
longer  for  the  priefts.  They  have  alfo  three  days  fevere  faft  before  the 
feaft  of  Jonas  ;  looking  on  him  as  a  type  of  our  Saviour's  lying  three  days 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  On  good-friday  they  abftain  for  twenty-five 
hours.  The  faft  during  thefe  feafons,  is  not  ftrictly  kept  on  faturdays  and 
fundays,  as  to  the  times  of  eating.  I  was  told  of  an  odd  ceremony,  they 
fometimes  ufe,  to  procure  leave  of  the  patriarch  to  eat  eggs  in  Lent;  it  is 
faid  they  take  him  up  in  a  chair,  and  aik  him  if  he  will  give  them  leave  to 
eat  eggs ;  on  refilling  it,  they  aik  if  he  will  be  thrown  down ;  and  repeat- 
ing thefe  queftions  three  or  four  times,  at  laft  he  confents  to  give  them 
leave  to  eat  eggs  in  Lent.  They  often  efpoufe  at  feven  or  eight,  and  con- 
fummate  at  eleven  or  twelve;  and  fome  proper  time  before  that,  they  are 
circumcifed.  The  men  eafily  procure  divorces,  on  account  of  adultery, 
long  ficknefs,  and  almoft  for  any  difagreements,  and,  if  the  party  defires 
it,  they  obtain  leave  of  the  patriarch  or  bifhop  to  marry  again  ;  and  if  it  is 
refufed,  'tis  faid  a  prieft  will  notwithftanding  fometimes  marry  either  of  the 
parties;  but  they  muft,  in  that  cafe,  be  excluded  from  the  facrament  for 
fome  time :  And  if  their  own  clergy  will  not  marry  them  to  another,  they 
have  recourfe  to  the  Cadi,  who  will  do  both  ;  and  this  is  praftifed  by  the 
Chriftians  all  overTurky. 

The  following  particulars  are  partly  my  own  obfervations,  and  partly 
collected  from  others.  The  Chrifma,  or  holy  oil,  which  they  call  the 
Meiron,  is  confecrated  but  once  in  thirty  years  by  the  patriarch ;  a  whole 
day  is  fpent  about  it,  and  it  is  faid  they  chant  the  old  and  new  teftament 
all  over  at  this  ceremony  ;  probably  different  fetts  of  them  taking  diffe- 
rent parts ;  and  the  archbifhop  of  ^Ethiopia  takes  of  it  when  he  comes  to 
be  confecrated  by  the  patriarch.  At  baptifm,  they  plunge  the  child 
three  times  into  the  water,  and  then  confirm  it,  and  give  it  the  facra- 
ment, that  is,  the  wine;  the  prieft  dipping  the  end  of  his  finger  in  it,  and 
putting  it  to  the  child's  mouth ;  which  is  done  after  they  have  adminifter'd 
the  facrament,  for  they  do  not  keep  the  confecrated  myfteries.  The  wo- 
men ftay  in  their  houfes  forty  days  after  they  are  deliver'd  of  a  boy,  and 
twenty-four  after  a  girl;  'till  which  time  the  baptifm  is  always  deferred, 
and  fometimes  much  longer.  The  ground  of  this  is  the  obfervation  of  the 
Mofaic  law  as  to  the  purification  of  the  mother,  who  muft  affift  at  the 

baptifm. 


ON  EGYPT. 


baptifm.  If  the  child  happens  to  be  lick,  before  it  is  baptized,  it  is  brought 
to  church,  for  they  cannot  baptize  out  of  the  church-  they  lay  the  child 
on  a  cloth  near  the  font,  and  the  prieft  dips  his  hands  in  the  water,  and 
rubs  it  all  over;  and  if  it  is  done  when  there  is  no  facrament,  the  child 
and  the  father  and  mother  muft  ftay  in  the  church  till  the  next  day. 
If  the  child  is  fo  ill  that  it  cannot  be  brought  to  church,  they  then  only 
anoint  it,  according  to  the  form  they  have  for  that  purpofe,  which  they  fay 
is  good  baptifm.    They  give  abfolution  at  extreme  unction,  as  they  do  in 
the  Greek  church,  and  anoint  alfo  all  the  people  prefent,  that  the  evil  fpi- 
rit  may  not  go  into  them.    Their  confeffions  are  only  general.    The  fub- 
deacons  do  not  come  within  the  chancel,  but  read  the  epiftle  at  the  door. 
The  priefls  are  obliged  to  fay  an  office  every  day,  as  long  as  that  of  the 
Roman  breviary  ;  only  it  is  every  day  the  fame,  which  they  have  by  rote. 
The  deacons  have  a  fhorter  form  ;  but  the  bifhop's  is  longer,  and  the  pa- 
triarch's ftill  longer.    They  ufe  the  liturgies  of  St.  Bafil,  St.  Gregory,  and 
St.  Cyril ;  the  firft  being  the  fhorteft,  is  mod  commonly  ufed.    They  ad- 
minifter  the  facrament  on  fundays  and  holidays,  which  latter  are  numerous, 
and  alfo  on  wednefdays  and  fridays,  and  every  day  in  Lent.    The  priefls 
prepare  for  it,  by  going  into  the  church  the  evening  before,  at  fun-fet,  and 
do  not  go  out  till  the  ceremony  is  over ;  fpending  the  night  moftly  in  fing- 
pfalms ;  and  fome  of  the  laity  fhut  themfelves  up  with  them.  It 
d  they  often  make  croffes  on  their  arms  with  powder;  and  if  it  is  de- 
anded,  whether  they  are  Chriftians,  they  fhew  the  crofs.  They  abftain  from 
bloo  i     ud  things  ftrangled.    They  pray  for  the  dead;  but  have  a  notion, 
t  at  the  foul  goes  to  heaven  in  forty  days,  and  yet  pray  for  them  after- 
wards.   They  proftrate  themfelves  before  pictures ;  but  have  no  ftatues, 
except  a  crucifix. 

What  obfervations  I  made  when  I  attended  their  fervice  almoft  an  intire 
night,  may  give  fome  infight  into  their  manner  of  worfhip.  On  Chriftmas 
eve,  one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and  thirty-feven,  at  Akmim  in  upper 
Egypt,  I  went,  about  feven  of  the  clock  in  the  evening,  to  the  chapel  of 
the  Hofpitium  of  Propaganda  Fide,  to  fee  the  ceremonies  of  the  catholic 
Coptis.  The  prieft  began  at  the  defk  to  chant,  and  the  people  with  him  ; 
and  then  retiring  to  his  place  to  the  left,  by  the  altar  of  St.  Francis,  they 
feem'd  to  chant  verfe  by  verfe,  all  being  in  the  Coptic  language,  which 
none  understand ;  the  people  fometimes  ringing  a  fhort  hymn  in  Arabic. 
Then  an  old  deacon  went  towards  the  altar  with  a  candle,  and  chanted; 
and  turning  to  the  people,  read,  and  retired  to  his  place,  which  was  near 
the  prieft.  After  having  chanted  an  hour,  a  prieft  came  out  habited  in 
the  cope,  with  a  yellowifh  woollen  cloth  over  his  head,  called  Shamely, 
like  the  Amynta  of  the  Catholics,  having  broad  ftripes  on  one  fide,  of 
it.  This  goes  under  the  cope;  under  which  is  the  furplice,  and  over  that 
the  ftole.  The  people  continued  chanting ;  after  a  while,  the  prieft  be- 
gan to  incenfe  the  altar,  and  then  came  down  and  made  a  general  incenfe 
to  all  the  people.  When  he  defcends  from  the  altar,  he  has  a  deacon  be- 
hind him,  with  a  particular  iron  crofs,  and  another  crofs  on  his  right  hand; 
and  when  the  prieft  ftretches  out  his  hands,  both  the  deacons  do  the  fame, 
which  appears  very  folemn.  After  having  incenfed  the  altar,  he  came 
down,  and  incenfed  the  people  in  general  ;  and  incenfing  the  altar  a  fe- 
cond  time,  he  came  down  and  incenfed  the  other  prieft,  putting  his  hands 
4  to 


OBSERVATIONS 

to  the  other's,  then  he  came  through  the  church,  and  incenfed  every  one, 
laying  his  hand  on  the  head  of  each  perfon.  The  women  are  in  a  feparate 
place  on  the  right  fide  of  the  church,  with  lattices  before  it,  and  a  little 
place  opens  about  breaft  high  from  the  ground,  out  of  which  the  women  put 
their  heads,  and  the  prieft  lays  his  hands  on  them.  Another  ceremony  is 
holding  the  crofs,  with  three  lighted  candles  ftuck  on  it,  which  reprefents 
the  trinity,  with  which  he  makes  fome  motions,  ftretches  out  his  hands 
and  turns  once  to  the  left,  his  back,  being  to  the  people ;  after  this,  one 
reads  at  the  defk,  and  another  on  one  fide  of  it;  and  fo  in  about  two  or 
three  hours,  that  is  about  ten  a  clock,  the  devotion  was  finifh'd,  and  the 
people  retired  to  ileep  till  about  one  a  clock.  Moft  of  their  chanting  is 
out  of  the  Pfalms;  they  have  thirty  pfalms  for  the  night,  and  five  for 
each  of  the  feven  hours  of  prayer  in  the  day  time.  I  was  inform'd,  that 
fome  impofe  on  themfelves  the  great  office  of  repeating  all  the  pfalms  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

About  one  a  clock  the  people  afiembled  again  to  attend  at  the  admini- 
ftration  of  the  facrament;  for  an  hour  and  a  half  before  it  began,  they 
chanted  pfalms  the  fong  of  Mofes  and  the  three  children,  the  Benedicite, 
and  fome  other  hymns,  the  prieft  beginning  and  chanting  with  them  as 
before;  one  chorus  chanting  with  him,  and  another  on  the  other  fide, 
verfe  by  verfe:  At  laft  the  prieft  came  out,  habited  as  before,  and  incenfed 
the  altar,  and  all  the  people  round,  three  times,  and  perform 'd  the  cere- 
mony again  of  the  three  candles;  and  the  epiftle  and  gofpel  being  read 
by  the  deacons,  feven  or  eight  boys,  from  eight  to  eighteen,  made  fhort 
orations  on  the  nativity,  ftanding  up  before  the  altar  towards  the  gofpel 
fide;  they  did  it  well,  and  with  good  action,  being  taught  by  the  fathers; 
this  is  not  done  in  the  other  Coptic  churches,  but  they  read  out  of  fome 
legends.  The  prieft  began  to  celebrate:  The  bread  they  ufeis  a  fmall  white 
cake,  it  is  made  only  of  flower  and  water  unleaven'd ;  the  Coptis  buy  the 
corn  with  the  money  of  the  church,  and  when  made  into  flower,  it  is  al- 
ways kept  in  the  church,  and  the  cakes  are  made  by  the  facriftan,  who 
chants  fome  pfalms  whilft  he  is  about  it,  and  they  are  bak'd  in  an  Oven 
near  the  church,  which  is  put  to  no  other  ufe:    They  never  keep  the 
hoft.    In  the  Catholic  churches  they  muft  ufe  wine;  but  in  the  others, 
they  ufe  what  they  call  Zebib,  though  they  have  wine;  becaufe  they  fay 
they  know  not  what  may  be  in  the  wine;  but  if  they  have  wine  only  and 
cannot  have  Zebib,  they  ufe  it.    Zebib  is  a  fort  of  raifm  wine ;  they  put 
five  Rotolos  of  new  grapes  to  five  of  water,  or  more  grapes  are  ufed  if  they 
are  older;  it  is  left  to  fteep  feven  days  in  winter  and  four  in  fummer;  the 
deacons  ftrain  it  through  two  bags,  one  after  another,  to  make  it  fine  ;  this 
keeps  feven  years,  and  taftes  like  a  fweet  wine  that  is  turn'd  a  little  fowre: 
They  may  alfo  make  wine  themfelves  for  this  ufe,  of  frefti  red  grapes 
from  the  vine.    If  wine  is  ufed,  they  put  in  a  little  water.    They  'keep 
the  Zebib  in  a  jarr,  and  flop  it  clofe,  fo  that  no  wind  can  come  to  it.  The 
Copti  priefts,  under  pretence  they  cannot  get  fruit  from  Cairo,  fay  they  can- 
not fay  mafs  above  once  a  month,  though  obliged,  if  poflible,  to  fay  it 
every  Wednefday  and  Friday  in  their  failing  feafons,  and  every  Sunday 
and  holiday.    As  well  as  I  could  obferve,  the  prieft  takes  the  bread  in 
the  paten  in  the  right  hand,  with  the  cloth  that  covers  it,  and  the  wine  in 
the  cruet,  cover'd  alfo  in  like  manner,  and  holds  them  both  fome  time 

with 


O  N  EGYPT. 

with  his  hands  ftretch'd  out,  he  then  goes  behind  the  altar,  by  the  epiftle 
door,  and  comes  in  by  the  gofpel  door,  and  places  both  on  the  altar; 
after  this  he  proceeds  to  confecration,  much  like  the  Romans,  and  breaks 
the  bread.  With  the  Coptis,  the  prieft  turns  round  and  holds  the  hoft 
elevated  on  the  chalice,  and  all  the  people  bend  their  bodies:  Having  re- 
ceived himfelf,  the  people  that  receive  go  behind  the  altar;  and  when 
they  are  to  receive,  the  firft  comes  with  a  towel  in  his  hand  on  the  left 
fide  of  the  prieft,  and  holding  his  head  over  the  table,  and  the  napkin 
under  his  chin,  the  prieft  puts  the  bread  into  his  mouth,  he  then  goes  behind 
again,  and  gives  the  towel  to  the  perfon  that  follows  him:  In  like  manner  the 
deacons  only  receive  the  wine  given  them  in  a  fmall  fpoon.  When  the  prieft 
had  diftributed  to  the  people,  he  put  the  bread  into  the  chalice,  and  took  the 
bread  and  wine  both  together  into  his  mouth,  and  having  wafli'd  his  hands, 
he  turn'd  to  the  people,  who  coming  to  him  one  by  one,  he  gave  them 
the  benediftion  with  his  wet  hand's,  putting  them  together  after  he  had 
touched  them:  This  was  a  high  mafs;  and  after  he  had  proceeded  in  it 
for  fome  time,  another  prieft  began  to  celebrate  privately  at  the  fide  altar, 
with  his  head  bare  and  fhaved  clofe,  having  been  bred  at  Rome ;  for  they 
fay,  that  covering  of  the  head  was  a  novelty  introduced  by  the  Coptis, 
contrary  to  the  antient  cuftoms  and  canons.  One  perfon  only  received  of 
him,  except  the  deacons  that  ferved,  who  kneeling  near  him,  he  rofe  up  to 
take  the  elements,  as  the  others,  over  the  table.  I  obferved,  fome  received 
the  facrament  that  were  not  above  ten  or  eleven  years  old ;  commonly  the 
prieft  and  deacon  only,  that  aflifts,  receive.  The  men  receive  with  the  true 
Coptis  in  both  kinds ;  the  prieft  carries  it  to  the  women,  that  is,  the  bread, 
on  which  he  makes  two  crofles  with  the  wine,  one  with  his  finger  dipp'd 
in  the  wine,  the  fecond  with  the  confecrated  bread,  dipp'd  alfo  into  the 
wine.  If  a  perfon  is  fick,  they  adminifter  the  facrament  in  the  houfe,  and 
give  only  the  bread.  The  confecrated  myfteries  are  not  kept  in  the  eaft, 
even  by  the  Roman  Catholics;  the  Coptis  commonly  receive  the  facra- 
ment two  or  three  times  a  year,  but  rarely  before  they  are  fixteen,  except 
the  deacons,  unlefs  they  marry  before  that  age. 


CHAP.  VIII. 
The  Hiftory  of  the  Rife  of  the  Nile. 

IT  may  be  proper  to  obferve,  that  the  fame  height  of  water  may  be  fuf- 
ficient  or  not  fufBcient  to  overflow  the  country  at  different  times,  ac- 
cording to  the  canals  that  are  cut  through  the  land,  and  alfo  according  to 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  kept  open,  by  carrying  off  the  annual  fedi- 
ment.  In  antient  times  they  feem  to  have  fear'd  inundations  more  than 
they  do  at  prefent  a  want  of  water,  and  it  is  probable,  that  before  the  ca- 
nals were  open'd,  there  was  every  year  fuch  an  inundation  as  render'd  the 
country  incapable  of  being  cultivated  ;  as  Herodotus  obferves,  that  before  the 
time  of  Menes,  who  might  open  fome  canals,  all  lower  Egypt  was  a  marfh  • 
and  it  was  making  canals,  and  caufing  a  great  diverfion  of  the  waters 
into  the  lake  Maris,  when  it  was  neceffary,  that  drain'd  the  country,  and 
Vol.  I.  Sff  carried 


OBSERVATIONS 


carried  off  the  waters,  that  would  have  caufed  inundations ;  for  the  greater 
the  outlet  of  the  waters,  confequently  the  more  water  is  required  to  over- 
flow the  country,  and  if  thefe  canals  filPd  and  were  obftrufted,  the  Nile 
muft  overflow  fooner  than  it  did  before.  It  feems  indeed,  when  it  is  once 
overflow'd  from  the  canals,  that  lefs  water  in  quantity  would  be  fufEcient 
for  the  land,  as  it  muft  have  been  in  a  manner  fill'd  with  water  from  the 
canals  cut  through  it  in  feveral  places,  being  a  fandy  foil,  through  which 
the  waters  eafily  pafs  to  the  height  of  the  Nile  :  Though  at  the  fame  time, 
a  greater  rife  might  be  required  after  its  overflow,  to  make  it  rife  to  the  upper 
lands  towards  the  Nile,  than  was  required  after  the  overflow  from  its  own 
banks:  For  there  is  great  reafon  to  think,  that,  contrary  to  what  is  generally 
obferved,  the  plain  ground  of  Egypt  is  higheft  towards  the  river,  and  that 
there  is  a  gentle  defcent  to  the  foot  of  the  hills ;  and  if  fo,  when  the  canals 
were  once  open'd,  and  the  water  let  into  them,  it  would  fooner  overflow  the 
banks  of  the  canals  than  thofe  of  the  river,  after  that  the  canals  were  cut; 
though  not  fooner  than  before  they  were  cut :  But  then  the  water  would 
overflow  lefs,  fooner  abate,  drain  off,  and  evaporate,  by  reafon  of  the  greater 
outlet;  fo  that  though  the  canals  carried  off  a  great  quantity  of  water,  and 
might  by  that  means  make  the  overflow  rather  later  than  if  it  overflow'd  the 
banks  of  the  river  alone,  before  the  canals  were  cut;  yet  notwithftanding, 
it  might,  in  certain  feafons  and  places,  overflow  them  at  a  time  when  the 
water  was  fo  low  as  not  to  overflow  the  banks  of  the  river  after  the  ca- 
nals were  cut;  for,  though  the  Nile  overflows  its  own  banks  at  Delta,  where 
they  are  very  low,  yet  the  overflow  in  the  higher  parts  is  moftly  by  the 
canals. 

In  order  likewife  to  explain  what  follows,  it  muft  be  obferved,  that  I 
fuppofe  the  Nile,  when  at  loweft,  to  be  four  cubits  high,  which  I  fhall 
have  occafion  to  explain ;  and  it  muft  always  be  confider'd,  that  there  is 
a  great  difference  between  the  Nile's  overflowing  its  own  banks  before  the 
canals  were  cut,  and  after;  for  in  the  former  cafe,  it  would  overflow 
them  fooner,  though  the  Nile  muft  be  higher  than  if  the  canals  were 
cut ;  in  the  latter  it  would  overflow  them  later,  though  the  Nile  need  not 
be  fo  high,  overflowing  by  the  banks  of  the  canal ;  on  the  fuppofltion  that 
the  ground  is  lower  at  a  diftance  from  the  river. 

There  are  fome  grounds  to  think  that  the  foil  of  Egypt  has  rifen  fome 
years  near  half  an  inch,  without  confidering  what  is  carried  away  of  the  pro- 
duce of  the  earth ;  for  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  I  obferved,  that  the  foil 
was  in  feveral  ftrata  or  cakes  of  about  that  thicknefs,  which,  as  the  banks 
wafh  away,  feparate  and  fall  down  ;  but  then,  as  the  lofs  is  great,  by  car- 
rying off  every  year  fuch  a  quantity  of  the  produce  of  the  land,  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  make  a  computation;  and  as  the  bed  of  the  river  alfo  rifes  by 
the  fubfiding  of  the  more  heavy  particles  of  earth  or  fand,  though,  it  may 
be,  not  in  the  fame  proportion,  fo  the  real  increafe  above  the  bed  of  the 
river  muft  be  very  fmall ;  and  as  to  what  is  carried  off  by  the  produce 
of  the  land,  though  conclufions  have  been  made  from  experiments,  by 
weighing  the  earth  both  before  and  after  a  tree  has  grown  in  a  pot  for 
fome  years,  that  vegetables  fubfift  moftly  by  water,  and  that  very  little  of 
the  earth  is  incorporated  into  the  body  of  the  plant;  yet  there  may  be 
miftakes  with  regard  to  this,  as  the  water,  fuch  plants  have  been  fupplied 
with,  might  not  be  perfectly  clear,  as  there  might  be  accidental  acccf- 


ON  EGYPT. 

Hons  of  earth  by  duft  or  other  means.  And  we  fee  likewife,  that  the  ground 
vifibly  finks  where  vegetables  are  produced  and  taken  away,  and  there  is  no 
acceflion  of  manure.  However,  nothing  can  be  certainly  faid  as  to  the 
rife  of  the  foil;  for  thefe  banks  being  high,  poffibly  thefe  ftrata  of  earth 
might  be  made  only  at  the  time  of  fuch  inundations  as  overflow'd  thefe 
banks,  when  we  are  to  fuppofe  the  fediment  muft  have  been  greater  than 
in  the  ordinary  overflow.  It  is  pofiible  alfo,  that  they  might  not  be  the  fe- 
diment of  one  year.  But  as  to  the  height  of  water  that  is  neceffary,  that 
muft  always  have  differ'd  in  proportion  to  the  outlet  of  the  waters ;  fo 
that  from  confidering  how  much  the  Nile  ought  to  rife  for  the  benefit  of 
the  country,  no  fort  of  computation  can  be  made,  how  much  the  foil  has 
rifen,  all  this  depending  on  the  openings  there  are  for  the  waters,  on  their 
breadth  and  their  depth,  on  their  being  kept  clean  or  negle&ed:  So  that, 
if  there  were  no  greater  reafons  for  keeping  the  canals  clean,  than  for  let- 
ting them  fill  up,  it  is  apprehended,  the  country  in  general  would  be  in 
lefs  danger  of  a  want  of  water,  in  that  cafe,  than  if  they  were  permitted 
to  choak  up ;  but  then  the  villages  would  be  in  greater  want  of  water  when 
it  was  gone  off ;  and  particularly  in  one  inftance,  as  the  canals  would  be 
much  fooner  dry,  in  cafe  they  were  in  fome  meafure  filled  up;  which 
appear'd  when  I  was  in  Egypt,  with  regard  to  the  canal  of  Alexandria, 
which  after  it  was  cleanfed,  had  water  in  it  two  months  longer  than  it  had 
the  year  before.  I  would  alfo  obferve,  that  in  very  few  parts  the  overflow 
extends  quite  to  the  mountains ;  it  may  have  reach'd  very  near  them  in 
fome  great  inundations,  and  the  fediment  might  afterwards  be  cover'd  over 
with  fand;  in  relation  to  which  a  great  number  of  curious  experiments 
might  be  made  by  digging  down  and  examining  to  fee  if  there  are  any 
ftrata  of  good  foil,  how  many,  how  far  beneath  the  prefent  furface,  of 
what  depth,  and  how  far  they  extended. 

To  go  on  then  with  the  hiftory  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile.  Herodotus 
fpeaks  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile  from  the  bottom  of  its  bed ;  and  probably 
as  foon  as  one  cubit  was  compleated,  call'd  what  was  above  it  by  the  name 
of  the  other.  He  fays,  the  Nile  did  not  overlpread  the  country,  unlefs  it 
rofe  to  fixteen  cubits,  or  at  leaft  fifteen;  and,  as  to  what  he  obferves,  that 
nine  hundred  years  before,  in  the  time  of  Myris,  eight  cubits  were  fuffi- 
cient ;  it  is  pofiible,  this  tradition  might  be  of  its  rife,  and  not  of  its  height 
from  the  bottom ;  in  which  fenfe  Herodotus  indeed  feems  to  underftand  it, 
otherwife  the  truth  of  it  is  very  much  to  be  doubted :  Nor  can  it  well  be 
accounted  for,  on  any  fuppofition,  unlefs  we  fuppofe,  that  the  canals  were 
cut  after  Myris's  time,  and  fo  made  a  greater  life  of  the  Nile  neceffary,  and 
that  afterwards  they  might  gradually  fill  up,  and  then  again  a  lefs  height 
of  water  might  be  required  fufficiently  to  overflow  the  country :  So  that, 
in  order  to  reconcile  thefe  accounts,  we  are  to  fuppofe,  that  Herodotus 
fpeaks  of  fifteen  or  fixteen  cubits  in  his  time  from  the  bottom  of  the  Nile; 
but  that,  where  he  mentions  eight  cubits,  an  account  which  he  had  by  tra- 
dition, that  might  be  the  way  of  exprefiing  themfelves  of  the  rife  only  of  the 
Nile  in  the  more  antient  times ;  fo  that  the  height  of  the  water,  when  at  low- 
eft,  ought  to  be  added  to  it,  which  computing  it  to  be  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  fuppofed  pikes  that  it  is  at  prefent;  about  four  cubits  muft  be  al- 
low'd  for  the  height  of  the  Nile,  when  at  loweft,  which  would  make  the 
height  of  the  water  twelve  cubits ;  fo  that  in  all  thefe  accounts,  if  we  except 

that 


OBSERV ATI ONS 

that  of  the  time  of  Herodotus,  it  feems  to  be  neceffary  to  add  the  height 
the  Nile  is  at  when  at  loweft,  to  the  height  of  its  increafe,  which  might 
be,  as  faid,  about  four  cubits.  Strabo  fpoke  of  the  cubits  from  the  in- 
creafe, and  not  from  the  bottom,  and  feems  always  to  have  mention' d  the 
full  number,  and  not  to  call  the  cubits  by  a  higher  number,  as  foon  as  it 
rofe  to  compleat  the  laft;  for,  he  fays,  before  Petronius's  time,  the  earth 
was  very  fruitful,  when  the  Nile  rofe  fourteen  cubits,  but  when  it  rofe  on- 
ly eight,  a  famine  enfued.  If  we  add  four  cubits  to  the  one,  and  the  o- 
ther  that  makes  twelve,  and  eighteen,  which  is  fomething  more  than  the 
meafures  of  Herodotus's  time,  lixteen  and  eleven  ;  fo  that  if  we  fuppofe 
it  to  rife  a  cubit  higher  than  twelve,  to  make  it  thirteen,  we  may  ima- 
gine it  was  then  a  Nile,  that  would  at  leaft  deliver  Egypt  from  famine;  as 
Herodotus  feems  to  lay,  that  fifteen  was  a  middling  Nile  to  overflow  the 
land,  and  fixteen  a  good  one,  fo  fourteen  was  likewife  probably  in  his 
time  an  indifferent  rife,  as  fixteen  was  a  good  one ;  therefore  the  good 
Nile  before  Petronius's  time,  differ'd  but  two  cubits  from  what  was  a 
good  one  in  Herodotus's  time,  yet  the  bad  Nile  was  probably  at  twelve 
only,  which  is  two  cubits  lower  than  Herodotus's  fuppofed  bad  Nile,  which 
might  be  owing  to  opening  canals ;  fo  that,  tho'  a  cubit  more  might  be  ne- 
ceffary to  overflow  the  lands  plentifully  before  Petronius's  time,  than  what 
was  in  Herodotus's,  the  earth  being  rifen,  and  canals  made;  yet,  canals  being 
made,  it  was  not  a  bad  Nile,  tho'  two  cubits  lower  than  the  bad  Nile  of 
Herodotus  ;  becaufe  a  lefs  height  occafion'd  it  to  overflow,  in  fome  mea- 
fure,  as  the  banks  of  the  canals  were  lower  than  the  banks  of  the  river ; 
tho'  to  overflow  it  plentifully,  a  greater  height  might  be  required  to  over- 
flow the  upper  lands ;  for  when  they  were  once  cover'd,  a  lefs  height  of 
water  after  the  overflow,  tho'  not  lefs  in  quantity  as  to  what  was  drunk  up 
by  the  earth,  might  be  neceffary,  for  the  reafons  mention'd ;  for  when  it 
once  overflow'd  from  its  own  banks,  it  overfpread  the  whole  country,  had 
not  fuch  outlets  to  carry  it  off  at  firft,  or  drain  it  off  afterwards  ;  fo  that 
the  rifing  a  very  little  higher  might  be  fufhcient,  in  this  cafe,  tho'  not  in 
the  other. 

The  great  advantage  of  opening  the  canals,  appears  from  Strabo's  ac- 
count ;  he  fays,  before  Petronius's  time,  if  it  rofe  eight  cubits  only,  there 
was  a  famine,  and  fourteen  caufed  a  great  plenty ;  but  in  Petronius's  time, 
a  rife  of  eight  cubits  preferved  the  country  from  famine,  and  twelve  was 
a  plentiful  rife.  For  Strabo,  obferving  the  advantage  of  banks,  to  confine 
the  Nile  within  its  bed,  and  the  water  of  the  canals  within  their  beds,  to 
be  diftributed  in  a  proper  manner,  as  he  muft  be  underftood,  fays,  that  in 
the  time  of  Petronius  (who  probably  open'd  the  canals,  and  raifed  the 
banks)  twelve  cubits,  and  four  added  to  them,  making  fixteen,  caufed  a 
great  plenty  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth  ;  and  when  it  was  only  eight,  ad- 
ding four  to  make  them  twelve  compleat,  there  was  notwithftanding  no 
famine  in  the  land. 

In  Kalkafendas's  quotation  of  the  rife  from  the  bottom,  in  the  time  of 
Almafudi,  in  the  year  feven  hundred  of  the  Hegira,  or  one  thoufand  three 
hundred  and  twenty-four  of  Chrift,  it  is  faid,  that  if  the  Nile  rofe  twelve 
pikes  only,  there  was  famine ;  fourteen  pikes  caufed  plenty  for  one  year, 
and  fixteen  would  produce  fufficient  for  two  years,  but  not  for  the  grafs ; 
and  when  it  came  to  feventeen,  that  is,  fixteen  compleat,  it  was  ftill  bet- 
ter; 

i 


ON  EGYPT. 

ter ;  but  what  was  fear'd  was  its  compleating  feventeen,  and  entering  oft 
eighteen,  which  was  an  inundation. 


In  Myris's  time,  a  good  Nile  from  the  rife 
In  the  time  of  Herodotus,  a  good  Nile 

Indifferent  Nile    

Bad  Nile,  fuppofed  to  be   

Before  Petronius    — ■ —  — 

Bad  Nile       


Cubits  or  pikes  Cubits  or  pikes 
begun.  compleated. 


In  Petronius's  time     

Indifferent       

Suppofed  bad     

In  feven  hundred  of  the  Hegira,  or  one  thoufand 
three  hundred  twenty-four,  bad  Nile 

Indifferent       1 

Good  Nile 
Very  good 


Inundations  that  hurt  fome  lands     

In  Omar's  time,  in  the  year  twenty-nine  of  the  Hegira,  7 
or  fix  hundred  and  fifty-four  of  Chrift  ;  bad  J 
Indifferent,  fufficient  for  one  year's  provifion 

Good  for  two  years  provifion    1  

Inundation        ■      — 


At  prefent 


Bad  under 
Indifferent 
Good  - 


9 

8 

16 

*5 

I J 

•4 

14 

'3 

17 

1 1 

11 

10 

14 

*3 

*J 

r4 

!J 

lS 

17 

16 

18 

17 

I  Z 

1 1 

14 

J3 

16 

»'J 

18 

17 

Inundation  above 


In  Kalkafendas's  time,  eighteen  pikes  do  not  feem  to  have  been  fear'd 
as  an  inundation,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  paragraphs  "  Plurimis  annis,  &c." 
And,  "  Vidi  in  Hiftoria  Nili,  &c  *. 


CHAP.  IX. 
An  attempt  towards  fettling  the  real  Rile  of  the  Nile. 

TH  E  fiibjefi  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile  is  fo  difficult,  that  I  am  fenfible, 
what  I  fhall  fay  on  it,  as  well  as  what  I  have  faid,  will  require 
more  than  ordinary  attention,  to  be  in  any  meafure  underflood,  and 
will  be  comprehended  only  by  often  confidering  the  feveral  authors  that 
have  wrote  on  it,  and  what  obfervations  have  been  made  on  this  fubjerft  ; 
a  trouble  that  probably  will  not  be  undertaken  by  any,  but  thofe  who  are 
fo  curious  as  to  go  into  Egypt,  and  endeavour  by  feeing  the  Nilometer, 
and  obferving  every  thing  they  can  in  relation  to  this  affair,  to  fettle  a 


*  See  Dr.  Shaw.    Excerpta  e  Kalkafenda  de  Nilo  et  Nilometfo. 

Vol.  I.  T  t  t 


matter 


OBSERVATION  S 

matter  of  fail,  that  has  hitherto  been  fo  much  in  the  dark  ;  and  for  fuch 
this  attempt  is  chiefly  defign'd ;  not  that  I  pofitively  affirm  any  thing,  but 
what  is  writ  on  this  fubjeft  is  only  intended  as  fo  many  hints  to  be  confi- 
der'd  by  others,  in  order  to  find  out  the  real  truth,  in  relation  to  this  diffi- 
cult fubjeft ;  for  there  is  nothing  the  world  has  been  fo  much  deceived  in, 
as  about  the  real  rife  of  the  Nile ;  and  fome  great  men  have  reafon'd 
on  it,  upon  a  fuppofition,  that  it  rifes  near  fifty  feet,  or  twenty-four  pikes, 
of  above  two  feet  each:  And  when  the  Nile  has  been  faid  to  be  of  fuch  a 
height,  they  have  imagined,  that  it  had  rifen  fo  high  above  its  furface, 
when  at  loweft ;  fo  that,  in  order  to  make  this  affair  as  clear  as  poffible, 
I  have  made  the  following  obfervations. 

That  in  the  time  of  Omar  Alketab,  about  the  twenty- ninth  of  the  Hegira, 
or  fix  hundred  and  fifty-fourth  year  of  Chrift,  the  mcafuring  pillar  con- 
fifted  of  twelve  pikes,  and  that  he  added  two  more  to  it;  which  is  proved 
from  this  quotation  of  Kalkafendas,  from  the  above- mention'd  abftracft: 

"           Omar  call'd  Ali,  the  fon  of  Abu-Taleb  to  the  council,  who 

"  advifed  that  he  fhould  order  a  Nilometer  to  be  built,  and  that  he  fhould 
"  add  two  cubits  to  the  twelve  cubits." 

That  from  the  time  of  Omar,  they  had  five  imaginary  cubits,  or  pikes, 
below  the  pillar,  to  anfwer  to  the  height  of  the  Nile,  when  at  loweft, 
which  appears  from  the  words  of  Kalkafendas  below,  in  which  mention 
is  made  of  eighteen  pikes ;  for,  otherwife,  they  could  not  reckon  eighteen 
on  a  pillar  only  of  twelve  pikes,  thefe  making  feventeen  compleat  with  the 
twelve,  which  brings  to  the  eighteenth  :  And  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  they 
gave  it  the  name  of  the  pike  it  was  rifing  to,  as  foon  as  any  pike  was 
compleated. 

The  words  of  Kalkafendas  are  thefe  :  "  When  the  Nile  has  rifen  to  the 
"  feventeenth,  then  it  goes  on  increafing  to  the  eighteenth."  Thefe  five 
pikes,  which  might  be  fuch  as  I  fhall  explain  below,  as  I  fuppofe  them  to 
be  at  prefent,  might  anfwer  pretty  near  in  meafure  to  the  four  cubits  I 
fuppofe  the  antients  allow'd  for  the  height  of  the  Nile  when  at  loweft. 

That  to  the  firft  twelve  pikes  the  water  rofe  to,  they  reckon'd  twenty- 
eight  digits  taken  from  the  two  pikes  added,  to  make  the  twelve  pikes  of 
twenty-four  digits,  fo  many  pikes  of  twenty-eight  digits.  It  is  to  be  ob- 
ferved, that  in  thefe  the  five  imaginary  pikes  are  comprehended.  This  is 
proved  from  thefe  words  of  Kalkafendas :  "  When  they  fuppofe  the  Nile 
"  to  rife  to  fixteen  cubits,  they  diftributed  the  two  cubits  over  and  a- 
"  bove,  that  are  of  twenty-eight  digits,  (which  I  fhould  rather  think  to 
"  be  a  miftake  for  twenty-four)  to  the  twelve  cubits  of  twenty-four  digits, 
"  and  fo  every  cubit  is  twenty-eight  digits."  That  therefore  the  two  cu- 
bits added,  were  diftributed  to  the  twelve  firft  cubits.  It  is  to  be  obferved, 
that  I  make  ufe  of  the  word  digits,  for  the  divifion  of  pikes  or  cubits,  be- 
caufe,  in  fome  places,  I  fuppofe  them  to  be  different  from  inches. 

That  when  the  water  rofe  to  above  twelve  cubits,  they  reckon'd  only 
twenty-four  digits  to  a  cubit ;  proved  from  thefe  words  of  Kalkafendas : 
"  Every  cubit  contains  twenty-eight  digits,  until  the  water  rifes  to  twelve 
"  cubits,  and  then  the  cubit  confifts  of  twenty-four  digits." 

That  the  manner  of  computation  has  been  alter'd ;  the  higheft  having 
been  eighteen  pikes,  whereas  now  it  is  twenty-four;  the  pillar  alfo  feems  to 
have  been  changed. 

4  The 


ON  EGYPT. 

The  account  they  now  give  is,  that  the  fixteen  loweft  pikes  are  of 
twenty- eight  inches  or  rather  digits;  that  the  four  next  are  of  twenty-fix, 
and  the  four  higheft  of  twenty-four. 

That  according  to  the  account  in  a  drawing  of  the  Mikias,  the  higheft 
pike  or  twenty- fourth,  is  the  beam  over  the  capital. 

That  the  twenty-third  pike  is  the  capital. 

That  the  twenty-firft  and  twenty-fecond  are  pikes,  mark'd  on  the  pillar 
fhorter  than  thofe  below. 

That  the  four  next  pikes  mark'd  on  the  pillar,  are  pikes  of  twenty-fix 
digits,  or  divifions,  and  it  may  be  examined,  if  they  are  not  divided  into 
twenty-fix  parts. 

That  the  eleven  pikes  above  the  five  imaginary  ones,  are  pikes  of  twen- 
ty-eight digits. 

I  obferved  the  divifions  of  the  lower  pikes,  much  larger  than  thofe  of 
the  upper  pikes. 

I  fuppofe,  that  there  are  in  each  of  the  other  twenty-four  divifions,  two 
digits,  that  is,  in  all  forty-eight  digits. 

So  that  a  little  more  than  fix  of  thefe  pikes  on  the  pillar,  make  eleven 
of  the  pikes  of  twenty-eight  digits,  which  contain  three  hundred  and 
eight  digits,  whereas  fix  pikes  of  forty-eight  digits  make  two  hun- 
dred eighty-eight  digits,  wanting  only  ten  divifions,  of  two  digits  each, 
to  compleat  the  number  of  the  eleven  pikes ;  fo  that  poffibly  there  may 
be  fix  pikes  and  a  half,  or  feven  pikes  of  this  kind,  mark'd  out  on  the 
pillar,  making  it  as  low  as  the  Nile  ever  was  known  to  fall,  which  poffi- 
bly might  be  four  pikes  and  a  half,  or  even  four.  The  reafons  for  thefe 
fuppofitions  are,  that  going  into  the  Mikias  in  June,  one  thoufand  feven 
hundred  and  thirty-eight,  when  they  faid  the  Nile  was  at  loweft,  a  little 
more  than  eleven  pikes  were  above  water,  befides  the  capital  and  beam. 
But  as  thirteen  pikes  only,  with  the  capital  and  beam,  were  above  the 
Water,  when  the  Nile  was  at  the  loweft,  there  could  not  be  above  five  or 
fix  under  the  water,  according  to  the  account  they  give ;  to  fuppofe  which, 
does  not  fo  well  agree  with  feveral  circumftances  as  the  other  fuppofi- 
tion. 

There  are  two  things  travellers  will  do  well  to  obferve'  firft,  whether 
the  divifions  of  the  fix  upper  pikes,  are  not  much  lefs  than  thofe  below ; 
and  fecondly,  whether  the  third,  fourth,  fifth  and  fixth  from  the  capital, 
are  not  divided  into  twenty-fix  parts:  And  going  into  the  Mikias  at  the 
time  of  low  Nile,  when  on  the  laft  ftep,  they  might,  as  it  were  acciden- 
tally, with  a  long  pipe  in  their  hands,  try  whether  they  could  reach  the 
bottom  ;  by  which  it  would  be  known  whether  the  pillar  goes  down  fo 
far,  or  not. 

It  is  alfo  to  be  remark'd,  that  it  would  anfwer  no  end  to  have  the  pil- 
lar go  down  lower  than  the  furface  of  the  Nile  at  loweft  ;  becaufe  it  was 
intended  to  fhew  the  rife  of  the  Nile,  which  is  a  circumftantial  proof,  that 
it  does  not  reach  lower.  It  is  alfo  to  be  obferved,  that  in  the  Mikias  there 
are  three  flights  of  fteps  down;  the  firft  of  one  and  twenty  degrees,  the 
next  of  four,  and  I  faw  feven  of  the  laft  flight :  They  fay,  there  are  fifty 
in  all  ;  to  which  I  do  not  give  credit. 

When  it  is  a  good  Nile,  and  the  water  about  twenty-three  pikes  high, 
it  is  faid,  it  comes  to  the  top  of  Mofes's  fteps,  and  there  are  twenty-fix 

of 


OBSERVATIONS 

ef  thbfe  fteps  down  to  a  landing  place,  where  the  women  ftand  to  wafh; 
and  when  the  Nile  was  at  loweft,  I  faw  two  fteps  above  water,  that  were 
below  this  place;  twenty-eight  in  all:  The  other  fteps  in  the  Mikias  not 
being  fo  deep,  there  were  thirty-three  of  them  above  water. 

To  this  I  have  added  what  I  obferved  the  two  laft  times  I  was  in  the 
Mikias.  On  the  feventeenth  of  May,  one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and 
thirty-nine,  eleven  pikes  of  the  pillar  were  above  the  water,  excepting  the 
capital  of  the  pillar;  and  fix  fteps  of  the  laft  flight  were  above  water. 
They  were  to  begin  to  clean  out  the  Mikias  in  two  days  after.  I  obferved, 
at  Mofes's  flairs,  there  are  twenty-fix  fteps  down  to  the  place  where  the 
women  ftand  to  wafh  ;  and  at  this  time  I  faw  the  water  a  little  lower. 

Returning,  I  faw  them  moving  away  the  mud  from  the  mouth  of  the 
canal  that  goes  through  Cairo,  leaving  a  column  of  earth,  that  was  then 
about  eight  feet  high,  which  I  mention'd  before,  on  another  occafion. 

On  the  third  of  June  following,  I  went  the  laft  time  into  the  Mikias, 
after  it  had  been  clean'd.  Eleven  pikes  and  a  half  of  the  pillar  appear'd, 
and  feven  fteps  of  the  laft  flight  were  above  water.  I  obferv'd,  there  were 
only  twenty-one  fleps  in  the  firft  flight,  befldes  the  upper  one,  which  was 
but  half  the  depth  of  the  others,  and  rifes  above  the  floor  ;  and  I  took 
notice,  that  the  top  of  the  capital  of  the  pillar  was  even  with  the  bottom 
of  the  fecond  ftep. 

At  Mofes's  ftairs,  another  ftep  appear'd,  befldes  thofe  I  faw  before.  It 
was  expefted  at  this  time,  that  the  Nile  would  begin  to  rife  very  foon; 
and  fome  faid,  that  it  had  begun  to  rife. 

I  here  add  an  account  I  procur'd  in  Cairo,  of  the  rife  of  the  Nile  for 
three  years ;  and  in  reckoning  the  pikes,  it  muft  be  remembred,  that  the 
firft  fixteen,  including  the  five  or  fix  firft  of  the  height  of  the  Nile  when 
at  loweft,  are  pikes  of  twenty  eight  digits;  the  next  four,  of  twenty-fix, 
and  the  reft,  of  twenty-four.  The  day  they  declare  the  Nile  is  rifen  fix- 
teen pikes,  they  call  Ophila ;  that  is,  The  will  of  God  is  compleated. 

In  one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and  fourteen,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  June, 
the  Nile  was  five  pikes  high,  and  rofe  every  day  fo  many  digits  as  are 
mark'd,  twenty-eight  of  which  make  a  pike  for  the  eleven  loweft  pikes, 
and  twenty  fix  for  the  four  next. 


Pikes 


tune  29  Water  high  r 

Digits 

IS 

8 

June  30 

the  Nile  rofe  3 

16 

10 

July  1 

z 

'7 

'5 

2 

3 

3 

2 

18 

*S 

4 

4 

5 

3 

19 

•S 

6 

4 

20 

10 

7 

6 

8  ' 

8 

4 

21 

22 

6 

9 

5 

23 

I 

10 

4 

24 

1 1 

3 

12 

5 

I 

'3 

4 

26 

14 

6 

27 

10 

Digits  Pikes 


Digits 


ON  EGYPT. 


*57 


Digits  Pikes 

Digits  Pike 

28 

29 

0 

29 

20 

3° 

7 

July  1 

0 

30 

3° 

2 

5 

1 

31 

48 

3 

4 

3 

Auguft  1  the  Canal  was  cut 

5 

4 

16 

6 

3 

. 

7 

4 

8 

3 

In  1715,  on 

the  30* 

of  June  the  water  was 

9 

s 

fix  pikes  high 

6  Pikes 

— —  I 

Digits 

10 

4 

Tulv  T 

it  rofe 

2 

1 1 

8 

2 

3 

12 

10 

3 

2 

'3 

12 

4 

3 

5 

4 

H 

Q 

O 

6 

5 

'5 

a'  7  V'  -  " 

7 

6 

ID 

10 

8 

Q 
O 

:7 

8 

9 

7 

18 

10 

b 

10 

8 

'9 

0 

1 1 

/ 

1 

12 

6 

20 

7 

21 

6 

H 

7 

22 

8 

5 

23 

10 

4 

16 

5 

24 

7 

s7 

4 

25 

6 

26 

5 

18 

3 

27 

6 

J9 

4 

28 

t 

20 

J 

5 

21 

4 

29 

4 

22 

8 

3° 

5 

23 

5° 

3r 

6 

Auguft  1 

8 

24 

45 

'  1 

2 

20 

25 

75 
 3 

Ophila  3 

5° 
 2 

4 

8   

16 

5 

4  16 

6 

.  3  ** 

5 

In  1738,  it  rofe  as  follows;  the  Nile  being 

78 

J 

five  pikes 

high. 

5  Pikes 

9 

6 

Digits 

10 

5 

June  20 

it  rofe  2 

21 

3 

Ji 

4 

22 

2 

12 

5 

23 

3 

'3 

4 

24 

2 

14 

3 

25 

4 

3 

26 

5 

16 

4 

27 

6 

28 

8 

!7 

4 

Vol.  I. 

U  u  u 

Digits 


OBSERVATIONS 

Pikes 


39 
20 
21 
22 
23 

24 


Digits 
5 
3 
3 
4 
3 
4 


3      4  of  2  6  Digits 


25 
26 
27 


29 
3° 


Digits 
S 

3 
4 

3 

2 

4 


As  they  publifh  fuch  an  extraordinay  rife,  as  fifty  inches,  about  the  time 
that  they  declare,  it  is  rifen  fixteen  pikes,  it  is  probable,  that  they  keep 
private  the  real  rife  before  that  time ;  which  may  be  a  piece  of  policy  of 
the  people  not  to  pay  their  rents,  if  it  does  not  rife  to  eighteen  pikes ;  for 
unlefs  it  rifes  fo  high,  they  have  but  an  indifferent  year;  and  poflibly, 
when  they  declare,  that  the  Nile  is  fixteen  pikes  high,  it  may  be  rilen  to 
eighteen ;  and  the  Pafha,  who  open'd  the  canal,  before  they  declared,  it  had 
riien  to  fixteen  pikes,  might  have  affurances,  that  it  was  rifen  fo  high;  but 
as  it  might  abate  foon  after,  fo  they  would  not  pay  the  tribute  notwith- 
ftanding.  Nobody  but  the  Pallia,  or  one  from  him,  can  enter  the  Mikias 
when  the  Nile  is  rifing,  except  the  people  that  belong  to  it;  and  not- 
withftanding,  they  fay  they  keep  the  manner  of  computing  the  rife  of  the 
Nile,  as  a  myftery  even  from  the  Palha  and  his  people,  which  may  be 
for  the  reafons  I  have  mention'd  above. 

The  following  account  was  alfo  given  me  in  Cairo,  of  the  times  when 
the  canal  was  cut,  on  the  rifing  of  the  Nile  to  fixteen  pikes,  for  forty- 
fix  years  before,  fpecifying  almoft  every  year. 


1692 

9  Auguft 

1711 

2  July 

1693 

7- 

1712 

10  Auguft 

1694 

1  Sept.  plague  and  famine 

!7'3 

6 

1695 

13  Auguft 

1714 

3 

1696 

»4 

1715 

1 

1697 

11 

1718 

26  July 

1698 

7 

1720 

22  Auguft 

1699 

*5 

1721 

5 

1700 

5 

1722 

9 

1701 

17 

1723 

15 

1702 

'5 

1724 

IJ 

J7°3 

18 

1725 

12 

1704 

2 

1727 

'7 

1705 

19  September  plague 

3734 

30  July 

1706 

9  Auguft 

J735 

2S 

j  707 

10 

1736 

4  Auguft 

1708 

4 

'737 

3 

1709 

4 

1738 

4 

1710 

9 

CHAP. 


ON  EGYPT. 


^59 


CHAP.  X. 

Of  the  method  of  Cultivating  and  preparing  Rice,  about 
Rosetto  :  Of  the  manner  of  making  Sal  Armoniac} 
and  of  hatching  Chickens  in  Ovens. 

BETWEEN  the  full  moon  and  new  moon  in  February,  they  take  Cultivation 
bafkets  of  rice  well  dried,  with  the  hulk  on  ;  they  tie  down  the  of  nce' 
cover  of  the  bafket,  and  put  it  into  the  water,  leaving  the  top  a  little  above 
water,  fo  as  that  the  fun  may  fhine  on  it ;  it  remains  there,  till  the  feed 
begins  to  moot ;  then  they  take  the  basket  out  of  the  water,  and  put  it 
and  the  grain  in  the  open  air  to  dry.    The  water  that  comes  out  of  the 
basket  of  rice  they  throw  on  the  land,  where  they  defign  to  fow  it,  but 
they  throw  away  the  water  that  runs  from  the  bottom  of  the  basket ;  both 
which  practices  feem  to  be  fome  fuperftition.    After  this,  they  take  the 
rice,  and  fow  it,  as  they  do  other  grain,  and  immediately  overflow  the 
land  with  water,  a  palm  deep,  and  fo  they  leave  it  for  ten  days  ;  when, 
the  rice  begins  to  grow,  they  draw  off  the  water,  and  leave  it  fo  for  two 
days ;  afterwards  they  juft  cover  the  earth  with  water ;  but  then  they  muft 
draw  off  the  water  every  day,  and  convey  frefh  water  to  it ;  and  take 
care  to  keep  the  ground  well  weeded ;  and  when  the  rice  is  about  a  palm 
and  a  half  high,  they  take  it  up  where  it  is  too  thick,  and  plant  it  in 
thofe  places  where  it  is  thin  ;  and  then  they  give  it  a  palm  of  water,  and 
leave  it  fo  until  it  is  ripe,  which  is  in  about  feven  months  after  it  is 
fown.    When  it  is  ripe,  they  cut  it  down,  put  it  in  a  clean  place,  and 
threfh  it,  take  away  the  ftraw,  and  leave  the  rice  to  dry  well  in  the  fun, 
putting  it  in  heaps  by  night  and  fpreading  it  out  by  day,  till  it  is  thoroughly 
dry.    They  then  put  it  in  the  warehoufe,  where  they  have  machines  of 
iron  to  take  off  the  outer  husk,  as  before  defcribed.    When  that  is  done, 
they  mix  fome  fait  with  it,  about  half  a  meafure,  which  is  feven  okes  and 
a  half  to  twelve  meafures  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  okes,  which  is  an  A- 
deb  of  rice.    They  put  the  fait  in  an  oven,  that  it  may  become  dry  and 
hard,  and  beat  the  lumps  of  fait  and  rice  together,  that  the  fait  may  pe- 
netrate into  the  rice,  to  whiten  and  preferve  it.    After  this  they  clean 
the  rice  well,  and  feparate  all  the  duft  from  it. 

A  notion  has  prevail'd,  that  Sal  Armoniac  was  made  of  the  fand  on  of  Sal  A 
which  camels  had  ftaled,  and  that  a  great  number  going  to  the  temple  ™>niac. 
of  Jupiter  Amnion,  gave  occafion  for  the  name  of  Ammoniac,  corrupted 
to  Armoniac.  Whether  it  ever  could  be  made  by  taking  up  the  fand  and 
preparing  it  with  fire,  as  they  do  the  dung  at  prefent,  thofe  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  nature  of  thefe  things,  will  be  beft  able  to  judge.  I 
was  inform'd,  that  it  is  made  of  the  foot  which  is  caufed  by  burning  the 
dung  of  cows  and  other  animals.  The  hotter  it  is,  the  better  it  produces; 
and  for  that  reafon,  the  dung  of  pidgeons  is  the  beft;  that  of  camels  is 
alfo  much  efteem'd.  In  order  to  make  fuel  of  it,  they  mix  it,  if  I 
miftake  not,  with  chopp'd  ftraw,  and  I  think  fometimes  with  earth,  and 
make  it  into  cakes  and  dry  it,  and  it  is  burnt  by  the  common  people  in 
Egypt ;  for  the  wood  they  burn  at  Cairo  is  very  dear,  as  it  is  brought  from 

Afia 


OBSERVATIONS 


Afia  Minor.  They  put  the  foot,  that  is  made  by  this  fuel,  into  round  thin 
vafes  of  glafs,  made  in  Cairo,  with  fhort  necks  abput  two  inches  diameter, 
fuch  as  are  reprefented  in  the  feventy-firft  plate  at  A.  They  cover  thefe 
glaffes  with  a  coat,  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick,  made  of  earth  and  hulks  of 
flax,  chopped  and  mixed  together ;  and  when  it  is  dried  in  the  fun,  they 
lay  on  fuch  another  coat,  half  an  inch  thick,  and  dry  it  in  like  manner. 
They  then  fill  the  glaffes  within  an  inch  of  the  neck.  The  houfe  it  is. 
made  in  is  divided  into  four  parts,  as  may  be  feen  in  the  fame  plate  at  C. 
,  with  arches  built  in  each  part,  about  three  feet  high,  and  two  feet  thick, 
and  about  as  far  apart;  between  which  they  place  the  glaffes,  fo  as  that 
they  may  reft  on  the  walls  of  the  arches,  there  being  about  fix  glafles 
placed  in  one  row,  each  three  feet  diameter.  Between  them  are  placed 
fmaller  glafles,  about  ten  inches  diameter ;  under  them  they  make  a  fire 
of  the  earth  of  the  Nile,  and  ftraw  mixed,  which  I  have  been  told,  they 
burn  alfo  for  other  ufes.  A  great  fire  is  kept  up,  as  they  inform'd  me,  for 
feventy-two  hours  conftantly,  in  which  time  all  the  fait  is  boil'd  up  to 
the  top.  The  vafes,  when  taken  out,  are  like  earthen  ware ;  and,  break- 
ing them,  they  take  out  the  cakes  of  fait,  in  the  form  in  which  it  comes 
to  us. 

Of  hatching  nletJ10C}  0f  hatching  chickens  in  ovens  may  be  reckon'd  among  the 

chickens  in  I  i  •    r        >  i      i  i      l  lr 

ovens.  arts  peculiar  to  Egypt.  I  have  been  iniorm  d,  that  only  the  people  ol  one 
village  are  mafters  of  this  art,  and  that  at  the  proper  time  of  the  year,  they 
fpread  themfelves  all  over  Egypt.  The  feafon  for  it  is  when  the  weather  is 
temperate,  about  February  and  March.  A  plan  of  the  places  under  ground, 
where  they  hatch  them,  may  be  feen  in  the  feventy-firft  plate  at  B.  they 
have  fuch  almoft  in  every  town.  In  the  apartment  F.  they  keep  a 
fmothering  fire  of  horfe-dung  and  chopp'd  ftraw,  to  be  difpofed  of  in  the 
apartments  where  the  chickens  are  hatch'd ;  it  is  exceedingly  troublefome 
to  go  in,  by  reafon  of  the  fmoak.  The  gallery,  G.  has  holes  at  top,  as 
mark'd  in  the  plan,  and  on  each  fide  of  it,  are  five  rooms,  about  ten  feet 
fquare,  and  four  high,  with  holes  at  top  likewife.  They  buy  their  eggs 
at  the  rate  of  feven  or  eight  for  a  Medine,  or  three  farthings,  and  put 
them  in  heaps  in  the  lower  cells  for  eight  days,  laying  the  burning  dung 
and  chopp'd  ftraw  along  in  the  channel,  d.  in  the  gallery  ;  and  turn  them 
by  moving  the  heaps  three  times  a  day :  They  then  carry  them  into  the 
upper  apartments,  and,  fpreading  them,  fo  as  only  to  cover  the  floor,  and 
turning  them  in  like  manner,  they  put  the  fire  in  the  channels  and  within 
the  apartments,  and  open  or  fliut  the  holes  at  top,  as  they  find  occafion: 
In  two  and  twenty  days  they  begin  to  hatch.  They  leave  them  in  the 
ovens  till  they  are  perfectly  dry,  and  then  put  them  in  the  gallery,  and  the 
people  come  and  buy  them,  two  or  three  for  a  Medine,  and  carry  them 
away  in  fieves.  If  it  happens  to  thunder,  great  numbers  of  the  eggs  mif- 
carry.  This  manner  of  hatching  is  not  fo  natural  as  the  common  way, 
and  the  chickens  often  want  a  claw  or  a  rump,  or  are  fome  way  or  other 
imperfect. 


CHAP. 


ON  EGYPT. 


26 


CHAP.  XI. 

Of  the  Proceffion  of  the  Caravan  to  Mecca. 

TH  E  proceffion  was  in  this  manner : 
1 .  One  iron  cannon  and  fix  brafs  cannon  on  neat  carriages,  each 
of  them  drawn  by  two  horfes. 

2.  Four  frames  in  embroider'd  cafes,  I  fuppofe  of  leather,  for  holding 
powder  and  ball,  drawn  by  men  on  foot. 

3.  Seven  camels  with  the  provifion  of  the  Emir  Hadge,  or  Prince  of 
the  pilgrims. 

4.  Four  camels  with  perfons  on  them  that  play'd  on  fome  mufical  in- 
strument. 

j.  A  tartavan  or  litter,  carried  by  four  mules. 

6.  Eight  light  litters  of  the  Emir  Hadge,  each  carried  by  two  camels. 

7.  Seventy  camels  loaded  with  bifcuit. 

8.  Fourteen  with  oil  and  butter. 

p.  Fifty  with  corn,  and  one  with  two  long  boxes  of  large  wax  candles 
for  the  fervice  of  the  houfe  of  Mecca. 

10.  Ten  with  fugar,  coffee,  and  the  like. 

11.  Four  with  kitchen  utenfils. 
ii.  Nine  with  plates. 

13.  Eight  with  the  kitchen  tent,  and  tables  for  the  cooks. 

14.  Eighty-fix  camels  of  the  Emir  Hadge,  not  loaded. 

1  j.  Twelve  others  in  the  fame  manner,  very  finely  caparifon'd. 

16.  Sixty  camels  of  the  Emir  Hadge,  not  loaded. 

17.  Fifty-four  camels  loaded  with  water. 

18.  Ten  loaded  with  tents. 

1 9.  Eight  camels  loaded  with  water. 

20.  Twelve  with  a  fort  of  boxes  on  each  fide  to  carry  the  fick;  two 
of  the  boxes  being  cover'd,  in  which,  if  I  miltake  not,  were  medicines 
for  the  lick ;  and  on  one  were  two  boards,  with  holes  in  them,  for  waffl- 
ing the  dead  on.  All  thefe  are  faid  to  have  been  fome  private  benefaction. 

2 1 .  Two  camels,  on  which  were  the  perfons  that  take  care  of  the  fick. 

22.  Men  on  camels,  beating  kettle  drums,  as  almoft  at  the  end  of  every 
firing  of  camels. 

Near  half  an  hour  after  thefe;  the  reft  proceeded  in  the  following 
order. 

2  3 .  Six  camels  loaded  with  iron  frames,  in  which  they  make  fires. 

24.  A  litter. 

25.  Four  loaded  camels. 

16.  One  camel  with  kettle  drums  on  it,  and  two  men,  each  beating  a 
drum. 

27.  Twenty  camels  without  loads. 

28.  Two  cafes  for  ball  and  powder. 

20.  Six  camels  loaded  with  tents  and  other  things. 
30.  Five  cafes  for  ball  and  powder. 

3  1 .  Ten  camels  loaded  with  water. 
32.  One  camel  with  kettle  drums. 

Vol.  I.  X  x  x  3 3.  Two 


OBSERVATION  S 

33.  Two  cafes  with  ball  and  powder. 

34.  A  litter. 

3  j.  Two  camels  loaded. 

3  6.  One  with  mufic. 

3  7.  Thirty-one  camels  not  loaded. 

38.  Ten  overfeers  of  camels  to  carry  water,  given  by  fome  Califs  and 
Sultans  of  Egypt  and  others. 

30.  Three  camels  without  mufic. 

40.  Twenty  camels  with  loads.  ' 

4 1 .  Two  camels  with  water. 

41.  Sixteen  overfeers  of  the  water,  on  horfes. 

43.  Three  men  on  camels. 

44.  Twenty  unloaded  camels. 

45.  Four  cafes  for  ball  and  powder. 

46.  Two  camels  loaded  with  water. 

47.  The  Imam,  or  head  Sheik,  on  a  camel,  who  is  chaplain  of  the  cara- 
van, and  offers  up  the  prayers  at  the  place '  of  Abraham's  facrifice.  His 
outward  garment  of  ceremony  was  white  ;  he  carried  a  green  flag,  and 
bleffed  the  people  with  his  right  hand,  by  holding  it  out,  and  moving  it 
gently,  as  they  do  when  they  falute,  but  not  bringing  it  to  his  breaft. 

48.  Eleven  camels  not  loaded. 

49.  Three  with  pilgrims  on  them, 
jo.  Two  camels  with  mufic. 

j  1.  Twenty- two  without  loads. 

yi.  Two  camels  with  Sheiks  on  them,  who  lead  the  way  on  the  road. 

53.  Twenty  camels  loaded  with  water,  one  with  drums. 

54.  Ten  without  loads. 

j  j.  Five  loaded  with  water. 

j  6.  The  banner  of  the  body  of  Spahis,  call'd  Cherkes. 
57.  Thirty  of  their  body. 

j8.  Twenty  lkiars  of  that  body,  each  having  a  pike  carried  before  him. 
5-9.  The  Sardar  of  the  Cherkes,  and  his  lieutenant. 

60.  Three  or  four  led  horfes. 

61.  Two  Seraches,  who  are  fervants  under  him. 
6 1 ,  Twelve  flaves  on  horfes. 

63.  Sixty  of  the  body  call'd  Tuphekjees. 

64.  Thirty  lkiars,  or  elders  of  them. 

65.  Four  flaves  on  horfeback,  in  coats  of  mail  made  of  wire. 

66.  One  and  twenty  flaves. 

67.  Twenty  men  on  camels,  molt  of  them  flaves  of  the  Sardar. 

68.  Two  led  camels  for  the  Sardar. 
<5o.  Two  camels  without  loads. 

70.  Two  camels  with  kettle-drums. 

71.  Seven  with  baggage. 

y%.  Fifty  of  the  body  of  the  Gjumelues. 

73.  Their  Sardar. 

74.  Twenty  foldiers,  and  ten  flaves  with  bows  and  arrows. 
7j.  Thirteen  camels  with  men  on  them. 

76.  Two  camels  with  kettle-drums. 

77.  Four  loaded  camels. 

78.  Two 
3 


ON  EGYPT. 


78.  Two  officers,  call'd  Oda  Bafhas. 

79.  Two  led  horfes. 

80.  Two  Sabederiks  in  Caftans. 

81.  Seven  camels  faddled. 
8  i.  Two  led  horfes. 

8  3 .  Two  Oda  Bafhas. 
84.  One  camel. 

8  j.  Thirty-four  Choufes,  or  meffengers  of  the  divan. 

86.  Other  officers. 

87.  Then  came  the  officers  of  the  Emir  Hadge;  particularly  thefe  that 

follow. 

88.  A  Chous,  or  meffenger  in  black. 
80.  Three  ftandards. 

90.  Five  faddle-camels. 
pi.  Eight  led  horfes. 

92.  Two  Seraches. 

93.  Two  janizaries. 

94.  Two  Caias  of  the  Emir  Hadge. 

9  j.  The  Hafnadar,  or  treafurer  of  the  Emir  Hadge. 

96.  Twenty-fix  faddle  camels. 

97.  Five  horfes. 

98.  One  faddle-camel. 

99.  Twenty-eight  men  on  camels ;  two  of  them  playing  on  mulical  in- 
ftruments. 

100.  Five  loaded  camels. 

1 01.  Next  came  the  body  of  the  Azabs. 

102.  Their  two  Sabederiks. 

103.  Odabaffias. 

1 04.  The  ftandard  of  the  Azabs. 

10  j.  Three  in  Caftans,  who  walked. 

106.  Three  Azabs  in  drefs  of  ceremony. 

1 07.  The  Sardar,  and  his  lieutenant. 

108.  Saddle-camels. 

109.  Men  on  loaded  camels. 

1 10.  Mufic. 

1 1 1 .  A  body  of  Azabs. 

1 1  2.  Then  follow 'd  the  janizaries. 

113.  Two  Sabederiks  of  that  body. 

114.  Two  janizaries. 

115.  Two  Seraches. 
ii  6.  A  ftandard. 

117.  Three  men  walking,  in  Caftans. 

118.  Three  janizaries. 

119.  The  Sardar  of  the  janizaries,  and 

120.  His  lieutenant. 

121.  Two  janizaries. 

122.  Two  faddle-camels. 

123.  Thirty-four  men  on  camels. 

124.  Eight  loaded  camels. 
1  2  j.  A  body  of  janizaries. 

1 16.  One 


OBSERV ATI ONS 

1 16.  One  ftandard-bearer. 

127.  Another  dreffed  in  a  leopard's  fkin. 

128.  One  and  twenty  Choufes. 

129.  The  Agas  of  the  feven  military  bodies,  with  filver  chains  hanging 
from  their  bridles  to  their  breaft- plates. 

130.  Twelve  Beys. 

1  j  1.  Before  each  of  them  two  Shatirs,  with  black  velvet  turbants. 

132.  The  Trucheman  Aga. 

133.  TheMuteferricaBafhee. 

134.  The  Muteferrica  guards. 
1 3  j.  The  Choufler  Caia. 

136.  The  guard  of  Chaoufes. 

137.  Then  follow'd  the  immediate  attendants  of  the  Emir  Hadge. 

138.  Eighteen  janizaries  in  their  drefs  of  ceremony. 

139.  Four  officers  of  the  Pafha. 

140.  Four  janizaries. 

141.  A  ftandard. 

142.  Two  ftandards. 

143.  Four  Arab  Sheiks. 

1 44.  Two  mad  Sheiks,  bare-headed,  in  white  ffiirts. 

145.  The  Emir  Hadge,  in  a  rich  Caftan,  and  on  a  beautiful  horfe,  ad- 
orn'd  with  the  richeft  trappings. 

146.  About  forty  foldiers. 

147.  Two  janizaries. 

148.  The  Caia  of  the  divan. 

149.  Sixty  flaves  with  bows  and  arrows. 
1  jo.  Two  Imams. 

151.  Four  led  horfes. 

ij2.  Three  ftandards. 

1 53.  A  band  of  mufic. 

1J4.  Four  led  camels. 

155.  Twenty-fix  camels  loaded. 

1  j  6.  Two  men  on  camels. 

157.  Then  came  the  Sheiks  of  the  mofques,  and  the  feveral  companies 
of  tradefmen  with  their  ftandards,  as  in  the  proceffion  of  the  hangings 
from  the  caftle  to  the  mofque;  fome  of  them  dancing  in  the  fame  man- 
ner. The  fiftiermen  carrying  fifti  like  ferpents,  probably  eels,  tied  to  the 
ends  of  long  fifhing-rods. 

j  58.  Four  Choufes  of  the  divan. 

159.  Sixteen  janizaries  in  their  high  drefs. 

160.  The  Sheik  call'd  Caffani. 

161.  The  great  ftandard,  carried  by  the  proper  officer  on  a  camel. 

162.  Five  camels;  three  of  them  having  trappings  of  very  fine  em- 
broidery. 

163.  The  covering,  as  in  the  other  proceffion. 


CHAP. 


ON  EGYPT. 


26 l 


CHAP.  XII. 
The  Rout  of  the  Caravan  from  Cairo  to  Mecca,  from  the 
account  of  one  who  had  been  there  fourteen  times. 


Days  of  return. 


Month  Zeffer.  19 


17 


Month  Zeffer. 


Month  Mahorem  20 


Where  the  cara- } 
vans  of  Cairo  ( 
and  Damaf-  f 
cus  meet.  j 


Places. 


Byrke 

Der  el  Hamera 
Adjeroute  cattle 

Newhateer 
WahadTe 
Newhail 

Allahaih 

Soot 
Achaba 

Darha  el  Hamar, 

SharafFa 

Mugair  fliaip 

Ain-el-Kafab 

Muellah 

Selma 

Aziiem 

Ufatbel 

Wefti 

Akrah 

Hanech 

Howra 

Nubt 

Houdera 

Yemboh  caftle 

Bedder,  a  town 


Diftances  by 
Deraies,  each  of 
four  minutes. 


Ma 


90 

200 

210 

160 
230 
230 

230 

240 
100 
160 
220 
230 
230 

2IO 
l8o 
220 
23O 
l80 
24O 
l80 
220 
24O 
220 
2IO 

300 


Kaah 

250 

Arabugh 

220 

Kudeid 

220 

Azafan 

220 

Wahad-elFaitmah 

210 

Maccah  or  Mecca 

100 

Arrafac 

100 

Munna 

40 

Mecca 

60 

Days  they 
ftay. 


four 


one  day 


one  day 


two  days. 


two  days. 


3  day 


three  days 
two  days 

three  days 

from  twelve 
to  fourteen 
days. 

From  Mecca  to  Bedder  in  fix  days,  as  they  came ;  From  whence  they 
Gedeedah 
Shuhada 

Medina,  a  town. 
Biar  alii 
Shuhada 
Gedeida 
Dahena 
Yembo 


Water. 


lake 
none 

bad  water 

no  water 
none 
water  that  fwells 

the  body, 
water  only  fit 

for  beafts 
none 

much  and  good 

bad 

none 

rivulet 

rivulet 

much  and  good 

much  and  good 

bad 

good 

jood 

bad 

none 

purging  water 
much  and  good 
bad 
rivulet 

rivulet 


none 

much  and  good 
much  and  good 
much  and  good 
much  and  good 


regularly  depart 
on 

go  to  Medina. 


Days  of  departure. 


three  days. 


two  days. 


yy 


From  this  placed 
they  go  on  to  | 
Cairo,  as  they  I 
came,  and  com-  I 
monly  make  * 
the  fame  ftay,  I 
as  may  be  fecn  I 
in  the  firft  co-J 
lumn  above. 


Month  Shuvat 

2  7 
2S 

3° 

Month  Adir. 

iEC 
2 

4 

5 
6 
9 


2  3 
24 

26 
29 

Month  Zilchage. 


>7 

30      r . 

7"1  Month  Mahorem 

8 

9 
'3 


CHAP. 


266 


OBSERVATIONS 


CHAP.  XIII. 

An  Account  of  the  Bey  of  T  u  n  i  s  ;  his  Court  and  Govern- 
ment. 

HAVING  met  with  this  relation  concerning  the  old  Bey  of  Tunis, 
from  one  who  had  lived  for  fome  years  in  his  court,  I  thought  it 
might  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader,  as  it  will  give  an  infight 
into  the  cuftoms  of  the  eaft  in  general,  and  of  that  part  in  particular. 

The  name  of  the  Bey,  in  one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and  thirty- three,  was 
Hafain  Ben  Ali;  he  was  between  feventy  and  eighty  years  old,  and  had  been 
twenty-eight  years  Bey ;  his  father  was  a  Greek  renegado ;  he  himfelf  was  a 
foldier,  became  rich,  and  was  made  Bey,  as  ufual,  by  the  foldiers,  who  chufe 
one  that  will  promife  to  give  them  the  moft  pay  ;  and  if,  at  the  end  of  the 
month  or  at  any  time  after,  he  cannot  pay  it,  he  is  furely  depofed.  The 
foldiers  are  renegadoes,  and  Turks  of  the  Levant,  and  they  had  a  notion 
that  the  Bey  muft  be  the  fon  of  a  renegado,  married  to  a  Barbarefco  woman ; 
which  is  probably  falfe,  all  depending  on  the  will  of  the  foldiers.  The 
title  they  give  him  is  Iafede  Bee.  This  Bey  rofe  two  hours  before  day,  and 
immediately  eat  a  Shourba,  that  is,  a  rice  foup,  made  of  meat ;  after  that 
he  drank  coffee,  then  a  fhirbet  of  cloves  and  cinnamon,  or  fome  other  hot 
thing.  He  then  went  to  the  mofque,  return'd  to  his  apartment,  and  per- 
form'd  his  devotions  on  his  beads ;  when  it  was  day,  he  always  went  to  the 
court  of  juftice,  without  the  gallery  before  his  two  apartments.  In  the 
middle  of  the  gallery  there  is  a  fountain  of  water,  and  pillars  round  it ; 
the  middle  room  is  the  chamber  of  audience,  where  he  flays  moft  part  of 
the  day;  it  is  furnifhed  with  looking-glaffes  and  Englilh  clocks.  Within 
the  room  of  audience,  is  the  fmall  room  in  which  he  flceps.  He  ftays  in 
the  court  of  juftice  till  half  an  hour  after  ten,  for  here  he  is  obliged  to  be 
every  day,  to  do  juftice  ;  any  one,  that  comes  for  juftice,  cries  out  Sharallah 
Iafede,  that  is,  Juftice,  fire;  repeating  it  till  he  anfwers,  and  afks  him 
what  he  would  have.  Before  eleven  he  goes  to  the  audience  chamber,  and  at 
eleven  dines  at  a  long  table,  or  board,  about  three  inches  above  the  ground, 
cover'd  with  carpets,  and  bread  is  laid  all  along  the  table ;  he  fits  at  the  head 
of  it  and  wafhes.  They  fet  a  large  difh  before  him,  on  which  are  fmall 
plates  of  every  fort  of  difh  that  is  on  the  table ;  the  great  dimes  being  placed 
along  the  table.  The  grandees  fit  near  him.  When  they  have  eaten,  they 
rife,  and  others  fit  down,  and  the  poor  take  away,  in  wooden  plates,  what 
is  left.  The  food  is,  firft  mutton  (of  which  they  kill  twelve  every  day) 
dreffed  in  three  manners,  either  with  a  rice  Pilaw,  or  with  oranges  and 
eggs,  or  with  onions  and  butter.  The  women  fend  three  great  plates  of 
Cufcowfow,  which  they  eat  with  the  broth,  and  they  have  alfo  either  fifh 
or  fowls  boil'd,  with  lemon  or  orange  fauce.  The  Bey  drinks  camels  milk, 
the  others  go  after  they  have  dined,  to  drink  at  the  fountain.  The  dinner 
is  ferved  in  the  Sopha,  which  is  to  the  right  of  the  apartment,  by  the  au- 
dience room,  where  they  have  cifterns  of  water  to  wafh  After  dinner  is 
over,  he  goes  to  the  audience  room  with  the  grandees.  He  never  fmoaks, 
nor  does  any  one  in  the  palace.    He  ftays  in  this  room  till  the  hour  of 

prayer, 


ON  EGYPT. 

prayer,  about  three  or  four  of  the  clock,  when  the  Imams  come,  and  all 
the  court  go  to  the  mofque.  After  prayers,  the  Imams  and  grandees  flay 
in  the  audience  room,  fitting  and  difcourfing.  An  hour  before  fun-fet,  he 
eats  as  before,  and  then  retires  to  a  room,  where  all  his  officers  and  great 
people  come  and  drink  coffee,  and  in  the  fummer,  fhirbets.  At  night  lie 
generally  goes  to  the  Seraglio  of  women,  and  ftays  from  one  to  four  hours 
after  fun-fet ;  from  thence  he  goes  to  the  bagnio,  and  thence  to  bed.  If 
he  does  not  go  to  the  women,  he  goes  to  fleep  in  his  own  chamber,  and 
fometimes  gets  up  in  the  night  and  goes  to  the  Harem,  and  afterwards  to 
the  bagnio,  and  then  to  bed  again,  if  it  is  not  day.  He  has  four  wives, 
one  of  which  only  has  had  children.  He  has  likewife  four  fons,  the  eldeft 
is  Bey  di  Turki  (General  di  Turki)  call'd  Muftapha  Bey  ;  the  youngeft  was 
but  twelve  years  old,  and  was  married.  He  was  efteem'd  a  very  wife  man, 
and  a  good  politician. 

The  palace  of  the  Bey  is  four  miles  from  Tunis,  and  is  call'd  the  Bardo: 
They  fay  the  palace  itfelf  and  the  buildings  that  belong  to  it,  among 
which  the  bagnios  where  the  flaves  live  are  comprehended,  are  altogether 
a  league  round.  He  goes  twice  a  year  to  Tunis  (before  he  makes  a  pro- 
grefs  over  his  dominions  to  receive  his  tribute)  when  he  goes  into  the  Cadi's 
houle,  takes  coffee,  makes  a  circuit  in  the  city,  and  returns  to  the  Bardo. 
One  of  the  feafons  he  choofes  for  going  over  his  territories,  is  the  month 
of  January,  the  other  .was  thought  to  be  that  of  July.  His  progrefs  takes 
up  about  fifty  days. 

The  feveral  officers  of  the  Bey  take  precedence  in  the  following  order. 

His  prime  minifter,  call'd  II  Cafa  Natale:  He  is  alfo  treafurer  and  pay- 
mafter:  He  lives  always  at  the  Bardo  in  his  own  houfe. 

II  Sapata,  or  the  keeper  of  the  feal. 

The  Cadi  in  Tunis,  who  adminifters  juftice  when  the  Bey  is  abroad  in 
his  circuits  ;  he  is  obliged  to  lie  every  night  at  the  Bardo,  in  his  own 
houfe,  during  the  abfence  of  the  Bey. 

The  officer  of  the  cuftom-houfe. 

II  Guardian  Bafhaw  di  Bagni,  that  is  of  the  college  of  the  flaves,  which 
is  built  like  a  cane  or  caravanfera,  in  which  the  flaves  live,  and  fome  have 
{hops  in  them.  There  are  four  of  thefe  buildings,  in  which  the  flaves  are 
lock'd  up  every  night ;  the  Bey  has  in  all  two  thoufand  flaves.  They 
may  be  ranfomed  for  about  five  hundred  and  thirty  piaftres  each. 

Li  Leukini  ;  who  are  intendants  of  the  buildings  ;  there  are  feveral  of 
them. 

Li  Guardiani  de  Schiavi,  who  go  with  the  flaves  to  guard  them  at 
work. 

The  Servants  of  the  Bey's  houfe  are  almoft  all  Chriftian  flaves.  They 
are, 

II  Bas  Cafaka,  a  Chriftian  Have  over  the  other  Chriftian  flaves  in  the 
Bey's  fervice. 

Two  officers ;  one  call'd  II  Bafhaw  Guarda  Robe,  who  ferves  the  Bey  at 
home;  another  call'd  Bafhaw  Guarda  Robe  delcampo,  who  ferves  when 
he  goes  abroad. 

Twelve  others  call'd  by  the  fame  name  of  Guarda  Robe. 

Caffejee ;  who  has  the  care  of  ferving  the  coffee. 

Guarda  Fanali ;  who  takes  care  of  the  lights. 

Guarda 


3 


268 


OBSERVATIONS 


Guarda  del  Aqua,  for  the  water. 

Guarda  Papouchi,  who  has  the  care  of  the  Papouches  of  all  that  come 
to  court,  to  carry  them  to  perfons  of  diftinftion  who  dine  there. 

Guarda  Banda,  who  has  the  care  of  putting  vafes  of  water  in  all  proper 
places. 

Guarda  Hamam,  who  attends  at  the  bagnios  for  bathins:. 

'  DO 

The  gardiners. 

Guardaletti;  there  are  two  fo  called,  who  have  the  care  of  every  thing 
belonging  to  the  bed  chamber. 

Muchachi  del  Camera,  boys  of  the  Bey's  chamber;  there  are  of  them 
from  twelve  to  eighteen;  two  of  them  always  in  waiting  in  fight  of  the 
Bey  for  two  hours,  who  give  the  Bey's  orders  to  the  Bas  Cafaka. 

All  thefe  are  Chriftians,  and  have  a  chapel  under  the  Bey's  apartment, 
where  the  Capuchins  fay  mafs  on  fundays  and  holidays. 

Cooks;  part  of  whom  are  Chriftians  and  part  Turks. 

Grooms;  who  are  Chriftians. 

Guardi  Piki,  who  carry  each  a  pike  before  the  Bey  when  he  goes  abroad. 

After  the  Bey  goes  the  Guarda  Letto,  with  water  both  cold  and  warm, 
one  for  drinking,  the  other  for  another  ufe;  and  always  two  led  horfes 
are  ready  near  him. 

They  have  a  man  of  war  of  feventy-four  guns  prefented  by  the  Grand 
Signor,  and  one  of  forty  guns,  and  a  little  veifel  call'd  a  Sambikino,  which 
has  fourteen  fmall  guns.  The  cities  are  govern'd  by  Agas  and  Cadis; 
an  Aga  being  fent  to  every  village.  The  Agas  and  Cadis  are  often  taken 
from  among  the  rich  people,  to  put  them  out  of  the  way,  and  afterwards 
on  a  pretence  of  mal-adminiftration,  they  feize  on  all  they  have.  He 
had  not  above  three  thouiand  foldiers  for  his  ftanding  army,  who  are 
Turks  and  renegades.  The  general  is  call'd  Aga  del  Campo ;  the  foldiers 
are  all  horfe,  and  are  call'd  Spahi.  It  is  faid,  that  the  Bey  ought  to  pay 
a  tribute  to  Algiers,  which  he  had  refufed.  He  has  to  the  eaft  of  Tunis 
the  ports  of  Mahomet,  only  a  gulf,  Suta,  Jerbe:  To  the  weft,  Farini,  Ca- 
ponegro,  Buferti,  and  Bona. 


CHAP.  XIV. 

The  Patent  of  Mahomet,  which  he  granted  to  the  Monks 
of  Mount  Sinai  ;  and  to  Chriftians  in  general. 

AS  God  is  great  and  governeth,  from  whom  all  the  Prophets  are 
come,  for  there  remaineth  no  record  of  injuftice  againft  God; 
through  the  gifts  that  are  given  unto  men,  Mahomet  the  fon  of  Abdal- 
lah,  the  apoftle  of  God,  and  careful  guardian  of  the  whole  world; 
has  wrote  the  prefent  inftrument  to  all  thofe  that  are  his  national  people, 
and  of  his  own  religion,  as  a  fecure  and  pofitive  promife  to  be  accom- 
plifh'd  to  the  Chriftian  nation,  and  relations  of  the  Nazareen,  whofoever 
they  may  be,  whether  they  be  the  noble  or  the  vulgar,  the  honoura- 
ble or  otherwife,  faying  thus. 

I.  Who- 


ON  EGYPT. 


I.  Whofoever  of  my  nation  fliall  prefume  to  break  my  promife  and 
oath,  which  is  contain' d  in  this  prefent  agreement,  deftroys  the  promiie 
of  God,  acis  contrary  to  the  oath,  and  will  be  a  refifter  of  the  faith, 
(which  God  forbid)  for  he  becometh  worthy  of  the  curfe,  whether  he  be 
the  King  himfelf,  or  a  poor  man,  or  what  perfon  foever  he  may  be. 

II.  That  whenever  any  one  of  the  monks  in  his  travels  fliall  hap- 
pen to  fettle  upon  any  mountain,  hill,  village,  or  other  habitable  place, 
on  the  fea,  or  in  deferts,  or  in  any  convent,  church,  or  houfe  of  prayer, 
I  fliall  be  in  the  midft  of  them,  as  the  preferver  and  protedtor  of  them, 
their  goods  and  effedts,  with  my  foul,  aid  and  protection,  jointly  with 
all  my  national  people ;  becaufe  they  are  a  part  of  my  own  people,  and 
an  honour  to  me. 

III.  Moreover,  I  command  all  officers  not  to  require  any  poll-tax  of 
them,  or  any  other  tribute,  becaufe  they  fhall  not  be  forced  or  com- 
pell'd  to  any  thing  of  this  kind. 

IV.  None  fhall  prefume  to  change  their  judges  or  governors,  but 
they  fhall  remain  in  their  office,  without  being  depofed. 

V.  No  one  fhall  moleft  them  when  they  are  travelling  on  the  road. 

VI.  Whatever  churches  they  are  poflefled  of,  no  one  is  to  deprive 
them  of  them. 

VII.  Whofoever  fliall  annul  any  one  of  thefe  my  decrees,  let  him 
know  pofitively,  that  he  annuls  the  ordinance  of  God. 

VIII.  Moreover,  neither  their  judges,  governors,  monks,  fervants, 
difciples,  or  any  others  depending  on  them,  fhall  pay  any  poll-tax,  or  be 
molefted  on  that  account,  becaufe  I  am  their  protedtor,  wherefoever 
they  fhall  be,  either  by  land  or  fea,  eaft  or  weft,  north  or  fouth  ;  be- 
caufe both  they  and  all  that  belong  to  them  are  included  in  this  my 
promiffbry  oath  and  patent. 

IX.  And  of  thofe  that  live  quietly  and  folitary  upon  the  mountains, 
they  fhall  exadt  neither  poll-tax  nor  tythes  from  their  incomes,  neither 
fhall  any  Muffulman  partake  of  what  they  have ;  for  they  labour  only  to 
maintain  themfelves. 

X.  Whenever  the  crop  of  the  earth  fhall  be  plentiful  in  its  due  time, 
the  inhabitants  fliall  be  obliged  out  of  every  bufliel  to  give  them  a  cer- 
tain meafure. 

XI.  Neither  in  time  of  war  fhall  they  take  them  out  of  their  habi- 
tations, nor  compel  them  to  go  to  the  wars,  nor  even  then  fhall  they  re- 
quire of  them  any  poll-tax. 

In  thefe  eleven  chapters  is  to  be  found  whatever  relates  to  the  monks, 
as  to  the  remaining  feven  chapters,  they  diredt  what  relates  to  every 
Chriftian. 

XII.  Thofe  Chriftians  who  are  inhabitants,  and  with  their  riches  and 
traffick  are  able  to  pay  the  poll-tax,  fhall  pay  no  more  than  twelve 
drachms. 

XIII.  Excepting  this,  nothing  more  fhall  be  required  of  them,  ac- 
cording to  the  exprefs  order  of  God,  that  fays,  Do  not  moleft  thofe  that 
have  a  veneration  for  the  books  that  are  fent  from  God,  but  rather,  in  a 
kind  manner,  give  of  your  good  things  to  them,  and  converfe  with  them, 
and  hinder  every  one  from  moleft ing  them. 


Vol.  I. 


Z  z  z 


XIV.  If 


OBSERVATIONS 

XIV.  If  a  Chriftian  woman  fhall  happen  to  marry  a  Muffulman,  the 
Muffulman  fhall  not  crofs  the  inclination  of  his  wife,  to  keep  her  from 
her  church  and  prayers,  and  the  practice  of  her  religion. 

XV.  That  no  peifon  hinder  them  from  repairing  their  churches. 

XVI.  Whofoever  acts  contrary  to  this  my  grant,  or  gives  credit  to  any 
thing  contrary  to  it,  becomes  truly  an  apoftate  to  God,  and  to  his  di- 
vine Apoftle,  becaufe  this  protection  1  have  granted  to  them,  according 
to  this  promife. 

XVII.  No  one  fhall  bear  arms  againft  them,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the 
Muffulmen  fhall  wage  war  for  them. 

XVIII.  And  by  this  I  ordain,  that  none  of  my  nation  fhall  prefume 
to  do  or  act  contrary  to  this  my  promife,  until  the  end  of  the  world. 

Witneffe, 

Ali,  the  fon  of  Abou  Thaleb. 
Homar,  the  fon  of  Hattavi. 
Ziphir,  the  fon  of  Abuam. 
Saitt,  the  fon  of  Maatt. 
Thavitt,  the  fon  of  Nefls. 
Muathem,  the  fon  of  Kafvi. 
Amphachin,  the  fon  of  Haffan. 
Azur,  the  fon  of  Jaffin. 
Abombaker,  the  fon  of  Ambi  Kaphe. 
Ottman,  the  fon  of  Gafas. 
Ambtelack,  the  fon  of  Meffutt. 
Phazer,  the  fon  of  Abbas. 
Talat,  the  fon  of  Amptoulak. 
Saat,  the  Son  of  Abbatt. 
Kafmer,  the  fon  of  Abid. 
Ambtullach,  the  fon  of  Omar. 

This  prefent  was  written  by  the  leader,  the  fucceffor  of  Ali  the  fon 
of  Abou  Thaleb;  the  Prophet  marking  it  with  his  hand  at  the 
mofque  of  the  Prophet  (in  whom  be  peace)  in  the  fecond  year  of 
the  Hegira,  the  third  day  of  the  month  Machorem. 


CHAP.  XV. 

Forms  of  fome  Letters  and  Pafports,  according  to  the  Eaftern 

ftyle. 

I. 

A  Firman  from  the  Grand  Signor  to  an  Englifh  Gentleman. 

SULTAN  Mahmud  the  fifth,  the  Ottoman  Emperor, 
To  the  ever  glorious  judges,  rulers  and  governors,  the  never  failing 
fources  of  virtue  and  eloquence,  who  are  between  the  confines  of  Germany 
and  our  happy  and  molt  high  Porte. 

To 


ON  EGYPT. 

To  the  Cadis  in  the  fame  road,  that  your  knowledge  may  increafe. 
And  ye  glorious  lieutenants  and  generals  of  the  janizaries,  that  your  va- 
lo'ur  may  be  exalted. 

When  this  our  imperial  command  mall  arrive  at  your  hands,  be  it  known 
unto  you,  that  the  illuftrious  ambaffador  of  England  A.  B.  (whofe  end  be 
ha  ppy)  has  fignified  to  us  by  his  memorial  prefented  unto  us,  that  one 
of  the  nobles  of  England  A.  moved  by  a  delire  and  intention  to  travel 
and  to  fee  divers  countries,  is  for  that  purpofe  departed  from  England 
to  come  into  Germany,  and  that  he  may  afterwards  come  with  fafety  to 
our  happy  Porte,  he  has  requefted  of  the  faid  ambaffador  to  provide  for 
him,  that  he  may  come  from  the  faid  confines  of  Germany  to  our  Impe- 
rial refidence  in  fafety,  according  to  his  intention,  in  his  lodgings,  quar- 
ters, and  on  the  road ;  and  that  faithful  afliftance  may  be  given  to  his 
fervants  with  his  baggage,  goods  and  provifions;  that  he  may  not  on  any 
pretence,  meet  with  any  trouble  or  infult;  but  that  he  may  be  protected 
and  defended. 

For  this  purpofe  he  has  intreated  us  to  grant  our  royal  command. 

Wherefore,  in  tenor  thereof,  that  this  requeft  may  be  punctually  com- 
plied with,  we  have  caufed  our  Imperial  order  and  command  to  iffue 
forth.  At  the  arrival,  therefore,  of  this  our  high  command,  let  every  thing 
be  done  in  conformity  to  the  orders  we  have  given. 

And  you,  who  are  above  named,  take  care  diligently  to  execute  our 
commands  with  regard  to  this  noble  perfon,  to  protect  and  defend  him 
and  all  his  attendance,  baggage,  goods  and  provifions,  and  take  you  e- 
fpecial  care  to  put  a  flop  to  any  trouble  or  infult  he  may  meet  with. 

You  will  not  fail  to  fulfil  the  contents  of  this  our  noble  command,  as 
you  will  fee  and  give  undoubted  credit  to  this  our  fign,  that  we  have 
caufed  to  be  put  to  it. 

Given  at  Babaduk  on  the  firft  day  of  the  month  Zilchige,  one  thou- 
fand  feven  hundred  and  nineteen.  (Which  was  the  firft  of  April,  one 
thoufand  feven  hundred  and  thirty-feven.) 

II. 

The  following  Firman  or  Pafport  was  granted  to  one  who  paffed  for  a 

merchant. 

The  command  direded  to  all  Judges,  Muffelimes,  Waiwodes,  Sardars, 
Haratchjees,  and  other  commanders,  that  are  in  the  road  from  Conftan- 
tinople  to  Adrianople,  to  Natolia,  towards  Budrum,  Bruffa,  and  the  ifle 
of  the  Morea. 

When  this  our  Imperial  command  comes  to  you,  be  it  known  to  you, 
That  the  moll:  noble  among  theg  randees  of  the  Mefliah,  A.  B.  (whofe  end  be 
happy)  ambaffador  of  England,  refiding  in  our  fplendid  court,  has,  by  his 
memorial  fent  to  our  high  throne,  reprefented,  that  a  certain  Englifh  gentle- 
man, M.  N.  going  on  fome  affairs  from  Conftantinople  to  Adrianople,  and 
thence  to  a  place  called  Budrum  in  Natolia,  to  Brufia,  and  from  that 
place  towards  the  ifle  of  the  Morea ;  and  in  order  that  no  gatherers  of  taxes 
be  permitted  to  moleft  him  or  his  two  Frank  fervants,  or  any  others,  on 
any  kind  of  pretence,  in  any  place  where  they  flop,  or  in  any  place  where 
they  are  going,  or  on  their  journey,  or  wherever  they  ftay  on  the  road, 

either 


OBSERVATIONS 

either  going  or  coming  to  the  aforefaid  places ;  he  has  requefted,  that  we 
would  grant  our  imperial  command  to  this  effed ;  concerning  which  rhe 
faid  ambaffador  having  fet  forth  to  us  his  requeft,  we  have  granted  this 
our  high  command,  that  nothing  may  be  done  againft  the  facred  capitula- 
tions, that  he  may  meet  with  no  let  or  hindrance  in  his  journey  to  the  faid 
places.  And  we  command,  that  when  he  arrives,  you  do  conduct  your- 
felves  in  the  abovefaid  manner ;  and  that  you  regard  this  our  noble  order 
with  refpeft  and  veneration.  So  far  finally,  you  are  to  regard  and  give 
credit  to  this  our  noble  fign,  which  was  put  to  thefe  prefents,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  moon  Rebuihahir,.  in  the  year  one  thoufand  one  hundred 
fifty-three.  (Which  was  towards  the  end  of  June,  one  thoufand  feven  hun- 
dred forty.) 

In  the  city  of  Conftantinople. 

III. 

A  letter  from  the  patriarch  of  Conftantinople,  to  all  under  his  jurifdiction, 
recommending  to  them  a  clergyman  of  the  church  of  England,  who 
was  travelling  in  the  eaft. 

NEOPHITUS,  by  the  grace  of  God,  archbilhop  of  Conftantino- 
ple (or  new  Rome)  and  oecumenical  patriarch. 

Moft  holy  Metropolitans,  moft  reverend  archbifhops  and  bilhops,  all  you 
who  are  fubjecl:  to  our  patriarchal  and  oecumenical  throne,  moft  dear  to 
God,  and  our  brethren  and  fellow  minifters  in  the  holy  ghoft. 

Be  it  known  to  you  all,  that  the  bearer  of  thefe  prefents,  the  eloquent 
father  A.  B.  a  native  of  the  Britifh  jurifdidlion,  having  an  .inclination  and 
intention  to  vifit  divers  cities  and  diocefes,  both  to  the  eaft  and  in  Europe, 
curioufly  to  view  and  infpeft  them;  to  which  purpofe  he  has  obtain'd  a 
venerable  order  from  the  powerful  Emperor,  containing  a  grant  of  free 
paflage  in  his  intended  travels ;  and  he  has  requefted  from  us,  in  a  civil 
manner,  our  patriarchal  letter  of  recommendation  to  your  reverend  lord- 
fhips,  that  is,  all  thofe  that  are  fubjeft  to  our  oecumenical  throne,  for  his 
intended  journey  ;  that  wherefoever  he  arrives,  or  in  whofe  diocefe  fo- 
ever  he  travels,  he  may  meet  with  a  worthy  reception  from  you,  with  the 
honour  and  friendfhip  that  are  due  to  his  eloquence ;  and  for  this  reafon 
we  have  condefcended  to  comply  with  his  commendable  and  friendly  de- 
fire,  knowing  him  to  be  an  honourable  and  well-deferving  gentleman. 
Therefore,  by  the  prefent  grant,  we  do  require  and  exhort  you,  and  every 
one  of  you  in  particular,  to  whom  thefe  our  patriarchal  letters  lhall  be 
prefented,  moft  holy  Metropolitans,  moft  reverend  archbifhops  and  bifbops, 
that  is,  thofe  in  whofe  diocefe  the  above-named  eloquent  father  A.  B. 
in  his  travels  fhall  arrive,  to  receive  him  in  a  kind  and  friendly  manner, 
according  to  his  merits  and  ftation,  that  he  may  be  fatisfied  with  your  kind 
reception.  This  you  are  required  to  do,  and  not  otherwife.  May  the 
grace  of  God,  and  the  prayers  and  bleifings  of  our  mediocrity,  be  with 
you  all. 


June  the  firft,  1 740. 


IV.  Several 


ON  EGYPT. 


IV. 

Several  Arabic  letters  written  by  the  great  men  in  Egypt,  recommending 
a  traveller  to  the  governors  under  them. 

A  letter  to  an  Arab  Sheik,  to  conduct  him  to  the  convents  of  St.  Paul  and 
St.  Anthony  in  the  defert. 

What  we  make  known  to  Sheik  Omar  of  Scione. 

A  S  foon  as  you  know  that  one  from  the  Frank  conful  comes  to  you, 
who  would  go  to  the  monaftery  of  Arabia,  immediately,  as  foon  as  he  is 
arrived,  call  the  fons  of  the  Arabs,  the  fons  of  Vachel,  and  confign  him 
to  them,  that  they  may  condudt  him  to  the  monaftery ;  and  when  he  is  re- 
turn'd,  take  care  of  him,  and  do  every  thing  for  him  that  is  neceflary. 

Dated  the  20th  of  A  B  R  A  H  I  M  Bey  MlRLUE 

Sab-"5°-  Tefterdar. 
A  letter  to  the  Sheik  of  Saccara,  in  order  to  fee  the  pyramids. 
To  Ahmed  Sheik  of  Saccara. 

May  the  great  God  proteft  you. 

AFTER  faluting  you.  There  comes  one  of  the  nation  of  the  Franks 
to  the  pyramids,  having  a  defire  to  fee  them.  And  I  recommend  him  unto 
you,  that  no  one  may  moleft  him,  or  give  him  any  fort  of  trouble.  Take 
all  poffible  care  of  him,  becaufe  he  is  under  our  protection.  I  again  re- 
commend him  to  you ;  and  may  the  great  God  be  your  defence. 

Ali  Kekiah. 
Hazaban  Gelfi. 

To  Sheik  Haffan  of  Bouche. 

May  the  great  God  have  you  under  his  protection, 
AFTER  faluting  you,  know  that  a  Frank  of  the  part  of  the  conful 
comes  to  you,  who  would  go  and  fee  the  monaftery  of  Arabia,  and  when 
he  is  return'd,  he  would  go  to  Faiume ;  fo  when  he  is  return'd  from  the 
monaftery,  fend  fome  people  with  him  to  accompany  him  to  Faiume.  And 
take  all  the  care  you  can  of  him,  and  endeavour  to  prevent  every  thing, 
with  all  care,  that  may  give  him  any  trouble. 

Dated  on  the  18*  of  the  A  B  R  A  K  I  M  Bey  B  E  L  F  IE 

month  Saban  1 150.  J     „  „  , 

1  etterdar. 

Guide  of  the  great  fupport  of  the  nobles ;  the  chief  Omar  Aga, 
governor  of  the  country  of  Faiume. 

May  the  great  God,  &c. 

AFTER  faluting  you  much,  and  greeting  you  with  all  affection  ;  be 
it  known  unto  you,  that  one  of  the  family  of  the  conful  of  the  Franks 
Vol.  I.  A  a  a  a  in 


374  OBSERVATIONS 

in  Cairo,  has  fome  bulinefs  at  Faiume.  As  foon  therefore  as  he  arrives, 
take  care  of  him,  and  fuffer  no  one  to  moleft  him,  until  he  returns  to 
Cairo.  Do  this  by  all  means,  and  with  the  utmoft  care,  that  he  may  re- 
turn fatisfied.    May  the  great  God  have  you  always  in  his  keeping. 

Dated  the  1 6th  of  TT  _ 

Shaban,  1150.  Hassan  Bey  Merlue, 


To  Muftapha  Bey,  governor  of  Girge. 

W  E  write,  after  faluting  you,  that  you  receive  the  perfon  who  brings 
this  letter,  who  is  going  into  Said,  to  fee  the  curious  places  there.  I  pray 
you  to  take  care  of  him;  and  I  defire  you  again  to  do  me  this  pleafure 
to  take  great  care  of  him,  and  protect  him  againft  any  one  that  would  do 
him  harm.  I  defire  you  not  to  fail  to  do  him  this  fervice,  for  the  love  you 
bear  to  us. 

O  s  m  a  n  Bey,  Senlatar ; 
at  this  time  Emir  Hadge. 

To  Emir  Mahomet  Kamali. 

What  I  order. 

THE  perfon  that  brings  this  letter  is  an  Englishman,  going  into  up- 
per Egypt,  to  fee  whatever  is  curious  there ;  fo  when  he  delivers  this  letter, 
take  care  to  protect  him  from  all  harm  ;  and  I  command  you  again  to  take 
care  of  him.    I  defire  you  not  to  fail  of  it,  for  the  love  you  bear  to  us. 

Osman  Bey  Merlue, 
at  this  time  Emir  Hadge. 

V. 

The  letter  of  the  Copti  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  recommending  to  the 
monks  of  the  deferts  of  St.  Macarius,  and  of  the  convents  of  St.  Anthony 
and  St.  Paul. 

In  the  name  of  the  merciful  God,  the  peace  of  God  be  with  you.  The 
reafon  of  this  benediction  to  the  bleffed  fons,  the  faithful  priefts,  and  the 
reverend  deacons,  the  abftemious  monks,  and  religious,  in  the  holy  fociety 
of  the  four  northern  monasteries. 

To  thofe  of  the  fpiritual  congregation  of  the  monasteries  of  our  father, 
the  great  St.  Anthony,  and  of  St.  Paul. 

May  God  Almighty  blefs  you  with  his  fpiritual  benedictions,  that  de- 
fcended  on  his  prophets,  apoftles,  and  martyrs,  and  the  workers  of  his  will 
and  commandments  in  all  ages,  by  the  interceffion  of  our  Lady  the  holy 
Mary,  always  a  virgin,  and  of  all  the  holy  martyrs  and  confeffors,  Amen. 
We  give  you  to  underftand  (firlt  repeating  that  God  may  blefs  you,  and 
give  his  fpiritual  falvation)  that  the  reafon  we  fay  of  this  our  letter  to  you 
is,  that  one  of  the  Franks,  that  is  A.  B.  is  going  to  you.  Have  the  ut- 
moft regard  for  him,  and  receive  him  with  the  greateft  civility.  And  may 
the  peace  of  our  Lord  defcend  on  you ;  for  ever  glory  be  to  God. 

Dated  the  2Q'h  of  Afur,  1 154. 

VI.  A  te- 


ON  EGYPT. 


VI. 

A  teftimonium  from  the  convent  of  Jerufalem,  of  having  vifited  all  the 

holy  places. 

F  R  A  T  E  R  Angelicus  de  Gazolo,  ordinis  Minorum  religiofa;  obfer- 
vantia;  fanfti  patris  noftri  Francifci,  leftor  theologian,  alms  obfervantium 
provincial  Bononise  pater,  et  congregationis  de  Propaganda  Fide  refponfa- 
lis,  miffionum  Egypti  et  Cypri  praefedus,  in  partibus  orientis  miflionarius 
et  commiffarius,  totius  terra  C&n&x  cuftos  et  montis  Sion,  nec  non  fan- 
dthTimi  fepulchri  domini  noftri  Jefu  Chrifti  guardianus  et  fervus. 

Univerfas  et  fmgulis  Chrifti  fidelibus  has  praefentes  litteras  infpedturis, 
ledturis,  et  audituris,  falutem  in  domino  fempiternam. 

Noveritis  perilluftrem  dominum  dominum  A.B.  natione  Anglum,  devo- 
tionis  caufa,  fufcepta  peregrinatione  ad  fanda  Pataftina;  et  Judaea  loca,  pra- 
fentia  et  fanctiffima  converfatione  falvatoris  ac  Domini  noftri  Jefu  Chrifti 
condecorata,  anno  a  nativitate  ejufdem  domini  noftri  Jefu  Chrifti  millefimo 
feptingentifimo  trigefimo  odtavo,  die  vero  trigefima  menfis  Martii,  Jerofoly- 
mam  appuliffe ;  inde  fubfequentibus  diebus  praecipua  loca,  feu  fanduaria  in 
quibus  operata  funt  noftra  redemptionis  myfteria,  utpote  Calvarium  et  fepul- 
chrum  beata;  Maria?  virginis,  in  valle  Jehofaphat,  qua?  in  monte  Sion  et  in 
monte  Oliveti,  casteraque,  five  intra  five  extra  urbis  Jerufalem  mcenia  fita, 
et  qua  in  Bethlehem,  ubi  falvator  nafci  dignatus  eft,  et  circa  Bethlehem,  et 
in  via  Bethlehemitica,  quae  in  montana  Judoese,  ubi  beata  virgo  falutavit 
Elizabeth,  ortumque  habuit  magnus  propheta  et  pracurfor  Domini ;  item 
et  qua  in  Nazareth  ac  univerfa  continentur  Galilaea,  et  reliqua  alia  loca 
ejufdem  Domini  noftri  Jefu  Chrifti  geftis  memorabilia,  ac  in  via  Samarias 
pie  et  devote  vifitafle,  in  quorum  omnium  et  lingulorum  fidem,  has 
noftras  teftimoniales  dedimus  propria  manu  fubfcriptas  ac  figillo  officii 
noftri  munitas.  Jerofolymis,  in  noftro  conventu  S.  Salvatoris,  die  28  Aprilis 
173B. 

Frater  Angelicus  de  Gazolo,  guar- 
dianus facrs  '  montis  Sion  et 

SIGILLVM    GVARDIANI  ruftrr;  tnfi'iiQ  terr-p  fanfl-p 

SACRI    CONVENTUS  CUltOS  t0tlUS  tmX  lanttS- 

MONTIS  SION. 


CHAP.  XVI. 
Greek  Infcriptions  found  in  Egypt. 

WHEN  I  came  to  revife  thefe  infcriptions,  I  found  them  fo  im- 
perfed,  that  I  fhould  not  have  ventured  to  publifh  them,  if  I 
had  not  promifed  it  in  the  courfe  of  this  work;  fo  I  give  them  as  I  co- 
pied them  out,  and  leave  it  to  thofe  to  explain  them,  who  have  fufBcient 
leifure. 


I.  The 


OBSERVATIONS 


i. 

The  firfl:  was  found  on  a  fragment  of  a  granite  pillar  fet  upright  in 
the  old  port  at  Alexandria,  for  fixing  their  cables. 

Auletes  the  laft  King  of  Egypt,  and  father  of  Cleopatra,  Teems  to  be 
mention'd  in  it ;  he  was  drove  out  of  the  kingdom  by  the  Alexandrians, 
but  was  afterwards  reftored. 

TIBKAAYAIONXIIliaNA 

toaiiantaapiCton 
.  .  .  paocto .  .  .  taton 

ATAnTAOIAOPtuMAIA. 
II. 

The  fecond  infcription  is  on  a  white  marble  ftone,  that  feems  to  have 
ferved  for  a  bafe,  and  is  now  hewn  into  a  trough  ;  it  is  one  foot  eleven 
inches  long,  one  foot  two  inches  broad,  and  eight  inches  deep.  One 
fide  of  it  is  not  work'd,  fo  that  probably  it  was  the  bafe  of  a  pilafter, 
pillar  or  ftatue,  that  was  fet  clofe  to  a  wall. 

This  infcription  feems  to  have  been  an  extraordinary  compliment  to  the 
Emperor  Severus. 

IA  .  .  .  .  jvIVAM  H'lIOinn  OCAIANOMA6AION 

HKT  .  ONC600TH  .  M  .  ANT0NINON£TTYKHeYC6BHC£BACTON 

TONCfflTHPATHCOAHCOIKOYM6NHC 

M .  ATPHAIOCMeA6KAI4iCKPHMATIZ» 

III. 

The  third  infcription  is  on  the  portico  of  the  temple  of  Gaua-Kiebir 
in  Upper  Egypt. 

[BAiiAErjsnTOAEMI  [AlO2]nATP~0Ef2NEni<J>AN£lNK|  [ai]E  YXAH2TJ1N 

[KAlBAqiAISSAKAI....  E£22AAEA<t>0EOIOIA|  MHTOPE  2 

/ONANTAIfl|TOI^2KAI2EPE2ATPH|OIANTJ2NIN 
-J'^EP.STOITIIAAETOT  ....  E  .  TAB.TO  f.NI  0 

The  word  Anta?o  in  this  infcription  might  be  a  preemption  that  this 
was  Antsopolis,  if  the  fituation  and  diftances  of  the  place  mentioned  in 
the  Itinerary,  and  other  authors,  did  agree  ;  but  as  it  is  fpoken  of  as  a  city 
at  a  diftance  from  the  river,  it  could  not  be  here ;  fo  that  poffibly  that 
word  may  relate  to  Antaus  himfelf,  who  might  be  mention'd  in  this  in- 
fcription, which  agrees  beft  with  the  orthography.  The  word  EYXAH2- 
TflN  was  probably  defign'd  for  ETXAPI2TON. 

It  is  poihble  there  might  have  been  an  antient  infcription  here  to  the 
honour  of  Ptolemy  and  his  family,  to  which  this  latter  part  might  be 
added  in  compliment  to  the  Roman  Emperor.  The  middle  part  of  this 
infcription  between  the  lines  was  fallen  down  on  the  ground. 


4 


The 


ON  EGYPT. 


2 


IV. 

The  fourth  infcription  is  on  a  ftone  that  was  probably  over  a  portico 
or  door  of  a  temple  at  Akmim  the  antient  Panopolis;  it  is  very  imperfed, 
but  appears  to  be  fo  late  as  the  time  of  Trajan. 

[  oicekaicaki  \noicsb]ACT  [o  h]  £  P  M  A  N I K  O  [h  a] 

 KAITOmANTOC  nANIOCfab  IMEFIOabl 

TIBEPIOCKAAT  AIOCTIBEPIOTK  [aataiot]  b  NOCTIOCKOTPINA  AnOAI  fx] 

....Tab  NK6XEIAIAPXHK0T  a  b  N  iICTPI  a  I  b  AOCICAinANOCOC  a  b  •  N 

 CTIIC....Tfc]..:i  

 CTN6TeAeCOIIAC 

f~lB  ATTOKPATOPOSKAICAPOCNePOTTPAIANOTCGBACTOTrePMANIKOT 

The  name  of  Pan,  which  feems  to  be  mention'd  in  this  infcription,  and 
the  hieroglyphics  I  have  defcribed  on  this  ftone,  would  make  one  imagine 
that  this  temple  might  be  dedicated  to  the  fun,  which  polTibly  in  fome 
parts  might  be  worfhipped  under  the  name  of  Pan. 

V. 

The  fifth  infcription  was  on  the  temple  at  Cous,  the  old  little  Apoli- 
nopolis ;  the  two  laft  words  of  the  third  line  AP£1  HBAI  as  I  conclude 
them  to  be,  though  the  letters  are  imperfed,  feem  to  be  fpoken  of  the 
the  children  of  Ptolemy  ;  and  to  mean,  The  youths,  the  heroes. 

BA2TAISSAKAEOI1  AT  PA  KAIBASIAETS 
nTOAEMAIOSGEOlMErAAOIcDIAOMHTEPES 

[ETXEBEIE]  D  ~  v  K  A  I  TA  T  E  K  N  A  [APXiHBAI] 

©EfilMEriSTaiKAITOISSTNNAIOISeEOIS 

f  Wherever  in  this  infcription  a  and  b  are  feen,  they  Hand  for  thefe  letters  agb'J. 


Bbbb 


VI.  The 


OBSERVATIONS 


VI. 

The  fixth  infcription  is  on  a  wall  on  the  outfide  of  the  temple  of  Elephantine. 
I  was  fo  hurried  in  copying  it,  that,  though  I  did  it  with  the  utmoft  exaflnefs  I  could, 
yet  it  will  be  feen  that  it  is  very  imperfect,  and  feveral  parts  of  it  were  defaced ; 
however,  I  have  given  it  as  I  copied  it.  It  is  to  be  doubted  if  the  whole  may  not 
be  two  infcriptions.  The  infcription  feems  to  be  of  the  time  of  Diocletian,  whofe 
name  often  occurs  in  it;  and  fome  expreffions  give  grounds  to  conclude  that  it 
related  to  fome  bounds  of  the  people  of  Elephantine. 

The 


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ON  EGYPT. 

VII. 

The  feventh  is  a  fragment  of  an  infcription,  from  Father  Sicard,  copied 
at  Antinoopolis,  if  I  miftake  not  from  the  pedeftal  of  one  of  the  large  pil- 
lars there. 

.  .  ATA0HITTXHI 
ATTOKPATOPIKAI2API 

MAPKniATPHAIQI 
2EOTHPOIAAESANAPQI 

ET2EBEIETTTXEI 


.  .  .TINOEflNNEflNEAAHNQN 

IIPTTANEONT02 
APXHAIOT  .  .  . 
 KAIALTOAAONIOY  .  .  . 


EniTflNETEMMATflXPHMA 


CHAP.  XVII. 

The  Bifhopricks  of  Egypt,  and  other  Countries  under  the 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria:  From  the  Patriarch's  Map. 

0PONO2  AAEHANAPINOS. 


A  I.   A  A&xvfyux  MnrgoTtoM  T?jf  a. 
Aiyojfjs. 
1.  An^oOTAif. 

3 .  KAfOTaTf i;.  f 

4.  KomSjif.  ' 

j.  'Ef|U87roAi;  ft«fot. 

6.  AaTOToAff.  1 

7.  Mafstsnj.  * 

f  This  he  makes  Suez,  and  though  at  that 
diftance,  in  the  diocefe  of  Alexandria. 

a  This  may  be  Gynaxopolis,  which  I  place  at 
Mahalea  Leben. 

b  This  place  he  diftinguiflies  by  the  name  of 
Little  Hermopolis,  to  diftinguifh  it  from  the  city 
of  this  name  in  Upper  Egypt ;  it  is  the  fame 
with  that  of  Strabo,  which  I  fuppofe  to  be  at 
Deirout. 

c  He  puts  Latopolis  a  little  above  Rofetto;  no 
fuch  place  is  mention'd  in  thefe  parts  by  antient 
authors. 


8.  M«/))Aaoc.  J 
p.  Navx{>omi.  ** 

10.  Nmkoj. 

I  I .  NiT^iCM, 

1 1.  vOvx<pic. 

1 3 .  Qxtouio;. ' 

14.  Sxi'c.f 
1  J.  2x&5w£. 

*  This  is  Meiriut  in  the  Arabic  lauguagc. 

*  This  place  he  puts  near  Caopus;  though 
Strabo  mentions  it  as  near  Momemphis,  which 
he  feems  to  places  about  the  Nile  in  this  part, 
rtom  which  they  went  to  the  nitre  pits. 

**  This  feems  to  have  been  on  the  eall,  and 
he  puts  Deirut  on  the  weft. 

=  This  place  he  puts  north  of  Terranc,  and 
without  any  Arabic  name,  the  fituation  of  it  pro- 
bably not  being  known. 

f  This  place  he  calls  Salhajar. 


16.  Txvx. 


280 


OBSERVATIONS 


16. 

B  17- 

18. 

i9- 
20. 
it. 

22. 

24. 
ij. 
16, 

27. 

r  28. 

2_9. 

3°- 

31- 
32. 

33- 
34- 
3J- 
36. 

V- 
38. 

39- 
40. 
A  41. 

42. 
43. 
44- 
Ah 
46. 

47- 
48. 

49- 

E  50. 

5i- 
J1- 
J3- 
J4- 
55- 
5* 
57. 


Taua. 

Ka&iirof  fopfMroAi;  t^j  ^  'A(- 

yurfja. 
BaVifi£. 
Bbtoc. 

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'EAsa^fa. 

n>)A8'o-(0V  MlJTfOTToAlJ  T))S  «  Au- 

'Ap«c, 

"Eifxxirof. 

'OrpOUUVtl. 

PiVMafafCt. 
SeAI). 

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Taw?. 

AsonozroAi;  MjjIfOjroJKff  t!j£  ^- 

At)ysr«f(v«w. 
'  Avjijotsgov. 

Ba£uA(i)y. 


'HAiaVoAif. 

Sxrjvi)  Mayfly, 
©tou. 

'Aiyurfja,  )?  tJ{  AgxxMa;. 
Affofi)o7roXiJ. 

'Afiaivart  n  Kf  owfeiAtoy  7roA(f. 
Kirov  OTA'f. 

Ns(Aa7roA<c. 
niV°AAoj. 


58.  Qx^ta^i;. 

59.  QtoSooiouui. 

{■  60.  Av7««stoAi{  MjitjottoAic  T»)f  ct  ©*- 

<Jl.  Av]lW£l«. 

62.  'AffoAAwvof  7T0A(f  )]  XXTU, 

63.  KaV;f. 

64.  'EffiaVoAif. 

6(5.  AuxBV  mAif. 
67.  "Oxuk  neyd^n 
<58.  navo?  otA<?. 
Z  <5j.  Kot7oc  M))7f™A(;  tjjj  ^  ©>]- 

70.  AmottoAic  pix^x. 

71.  'EfjKavJ/f. 

72.  A>)Ta;  7roA(j. 

73.  Ma^ftfavBTToA/j. 

74.  *Oflfi><. 

7  J.  <J><Aa;.; 

76.  T*8/f. 

77.  T£v7yj/f. 

78.  ©15S) 
79-  ©£^£vai7if. 

80.  ©|Mf. 

81.  T08f«. 

H  8  2.  TlTotepxi;  Mrflgozo'htc  rr&  A&drfi 

83.  "Arfja^of. 

84.  Bxgxvi. 

85.  BsgSVIXY). 

87.  A«r%. 

88.  'Egufyx. 

90.  AlftaviJbf. 

91.  'OAi'Sa. 

92.  Ux^xStaxri. 

93.  XuQstrtx.. 
94-  ®^Xvfa- 

JIJ.  2W£AW£. 

©96.  Aajvis  Mfyonoht;  rijf  /3'  Ai- 

97.  "Ailityx. 

98.  'Avrticvgyot. 

99.  Mx^XglXn- 


r  This  he  places  in  the  north  weft  part  of  Sicart  s  it  feems  to  be  Hermopolis  of  Strabo  ;  and 

Delta,  but  is  not  mention'd  by  the  antients,  no  it  may  be  queftion'd,  if  the  fea  chart  is  not  wrong 

more  than  the  next,  which  is  near  it.  in  placing  Berulles  where  I  have  put  it, 

«  This  place  he  puts  at  Berullos  or  Borlos  of      ■  This  he  places  at  Suca. 

3  100.  HxgXnoWV. 


ON  EGYPT. 


100.  Uagoinoviov. 

101.  ZayiAof. 

102.  Zvyigi;. 

I  103.  Ka^ijJcJy  MjJfozroAij  f<£ya?w) 

104.  "AfiSr^cc. 

10  j.  'A^tiSbjov. 
Io6\  A@£cur<riigit. 

107.  $uff«>.is  fixe&ixfa 

108.  KAaurocioy. 

109.  Miy/jwrj. 

1 10.  TaSsf&f. 

111.  'OuJiJOj. 

112.  "Ov]lTX. 

113.  A£7TTIf  fJEyCtA)]. 

114.  "beet. 

11  j.  2a^«7ov. 

116.  Tff CTiJoy. 

117.  'Aj^ufictrjoy. 

118.  Be^cstov. 

119.  EMMOWJ. 

120.  ToAmJa. 
111.  SaSSTUtoj. 


112.  'PbctTOJ. 

123.  '/TJi3c7a  tiSiXitxvx. 

124.  Kx^axjid;. 

125.  OWOi  (i£A0ty£f. 

126.  K^S)). 

127.  OumraAri. 

128.  "imm. 

129.  Tayara. 

130.  Xfaynx. 

131.  2T0T«(7S£. 

132.  X?m<pr\. 

133.  Tvxxri- 

134.  Bafex. 

135.  Kxiaxgem. 
1 3  (5.  Ka^y*]. 

137.  Ax&tx. 

138.  N£a7roA<c. 

139.  'Pct/roy/ix. 

140.  Tiptxrj. 

141.  Ai?«. 

142.  'Omny)). 

143.  PaaAnj. 

144.  Tiyylg. 


CHAP.  XVIII. 

Of  Egyptian  and  Arabian  Plants. 

I CANNOT  find,  that  what  I  call  the  Thebaic  palm,  the  Dome  tree 
of  the  Thebaic!,  has  ever  been  mention'd  by  any  author.  The  tree  is 
reprefented  at  K.  in  the  feventy-third  plate.  It  is  an  exception  to  the 
general  defcription  of  palms,  as  it  always  fhoots  out  into  two  branches, 
and  thofe  again  into  two  more,  the  leaves  and  fruit  growing  out  at  the 
ends  :  I  brought  very  fair  fpecimens  of  them.  The  leaf,  of  the  fan  kind, 
may  be  feen  at  G.  the  ftem  of  it,  in  its  full  fize,  at  H.  a'nd  the  wood  at  L 
The  bark  refembles  that  of  the  common  palm,  as  does  alfo  the  grain  of  the 
wood ;  the  heart  of  which,  like  that  of  the  other,  feems  not  fo  durable  as 
the  outfide,  and  is  perifh'd.  In  the  feventy-fecond  plate,  at  A.  is  the 
fruit;  at  B.  C.  it  is  feen  of  the  natural  fize;  at  D.  as  it  appears  when  that 
dry,  hufky  coat  is  taken  off,  which  the  common  people  eat,  and  the  fhell, 
which  enclofes  the  kernel  E.  appears,  which  is  very  clofe  and  hard,  fome- 
thing  reiembling  the  kernel  of  the  large  cocoa-nut ;  but  after  it  becomes 
dry,  is  as  hard  as  horn.  It  is  hollow  within,  and  the  common  people 
make  (huff-boxes  of  them,  by  drilling  a  hole  in  the  narrow  end,  as  ob- 
ferved  before.  But  part  of  the  hollow  in  the  middle,  F.  is  fo  fmall,  that  they 
turn  them  into  large  beads,  of  a  fine  polifh ;  and  the  Turks  ufe  them  to 
fay  their  prayers  by. 


C  c  c  c 


The 


28a 


OBSERVATIONS 


The  following  plants,  in  thefe  plates,  have  not  been  engraved  before  or 
at  leaft,  not  in  a  proper  manner. 

In  the  feventy-fecond  and  feventy-third  plates, 
i.  Palma  Thebaica  dichotoma,  folio  flabelliformi,  pedunculis  fpinofis, 
fruflu  racemofo  fparfo  feflili,  N.  D. 

In  the  feventy- fourth  plate. 

1  Abutilon  folio  fubrotundo,  ferrato,  caule  tomentofo. 

2  Capficum  filiquis  ere£tis,  luteis  minus. 

3  Sifirinchium  orientale,  foliis  longiffimis,  floribus  fimbriatis. 

In  the  fixty-fifth  plate. 

4  Colutea  orientalis  foliis  minoribus,  flore  luteo,  vefica  atro  rubente,  N.  D. 
y  Lunaria  fruticofa,  perennis,  incana,  Leucoii  folio. 

6  Jacobaa  iEgyptiaca,  coronopi  folio,  Lippi. 

7  Aftragalus  orientalis,  candidiffimus,  et  tomentofus,  T.  Cor. 

The  plants  mark'd  with  *  are  come  up  at  Chelfea,  from  the  feeds  I  fent. 

I  am  obliged  to  Mr.  Miller  of  Chelfea,  for  drawing  up  the  catalogue 
of  thefe  and  the  following  plants  I  collected  in  Egypt,  and  Arabia  Petrsea. 

Plants  of  Egypt. 

1  Abutilon  folio  fubrotundo  ferrato,  caule  tomentofo,  N.D. 

2  Acacia  Indica  Farnefiana,  Aid.  Hort.  2. 

3  Acacia  vera,  J.  B.  4 jp. 

4  Acetofa  iEgyptiaca  rofeo  feminis  involucre,  folio  lacero,  Lipp. 
j  Ammi  majus,  C.  B.  P.  1  jj>. 

6  Anemone  latifolia,  flore  coccineo,  C.  B.  P.  174. 

7  Angaria  Citullus  difla,  C.  B.  P.  312. 

*  8  Apocynum  fcandens  folio  cordato,  N.  D. 
9  Arundo  faccharifera,  C.  B.  P.  18, 
10  Arundo  graminea  aculeata,  Alp.  Exot.  104. 

I I  Arundo  orientalis  altiflima,  caule  tenuiffimo  fiftulofo,  Tourn.  Cor. 
1 2  Atriplex  Grsca  fruticofa  humifufa  Halimi  folio,  Tourn.  Cor. 

*  1 3  Capficum  filiquis  eredtis,  luteis  minus,  N.  D. 
14  Carthamus  officinarum  flore  croceo,  Tourn.  Inft. 

1  j  Cafiia  fiftula  Alexandrina,  C.B.  P.  403. 

1 6  Colocynthis  frudlu  rotundo  major,  C.  B.  P.  313. 

1 7  Colutea  iEgyptiaca  annua,  flore  luteo,  N.  D. 

1 8  Cyperus  radice  longa  five  Cyperus  officinarum,  C.  B.  P.  itfj. 

1 9  Eruca  fativa  flore  albo,  C.  B.  P. 

20  Fabago  Belgarum  five  peplus  Parifienfium,  Lugd.  456. 

21  Fcenum  Graxum  fativum,  C.  B.  P.  348. 

*   Ficoides  Neapolitana,  flore  candido,  H.  L.  Kali. 
21  Gramen  daftylon  iEgyptiacum,  C.  B  P. 

23  Hordcum  hexafticum  pulchrum,  J.  B. 

24  Hyofcyamus  luteus  major,  Alp.  Exot. 

2  5  Hypericum  orientale  Polygoni  folio,  Tourn.  Cor. 
26  Ifatis  orientalis  Lepidii  folio,  Tourn.  Cor. 

27,  Kali 


ON  EGYPT. 


27  Kali  orientale  fruticofum,  fedi  minoris  folio,  Tourn.  Cor. 

28  Ketmia  Indica  aculeata,  foliis  digitatis,  Tourn.  Inft.  10 1. 

29  Ketmia  velicaria  Africana,  Tourn.  Inft.  101. 

30  Ketmia  iEgyptiaca  femine  mofchato,  Tourn.  Inft.  102. 

3  1  Lathyrus  Tingitanus  filiquis  orobi  flore  amplo  ruberrimo,  Mor.  Hor. 
32  Liguftrum  iEgyptiacum  Elhanna  feu  amaharendi  vel  Alhanna  Avi- 

cena;,  Alp.  Egypt. 
3  3  Limon  acris,  Ferr.  Hefp.  331. 

34  Limonium  iEgyptiacum  lignofum  halimi  folio,  Lipp. 

3  5  Lotus  pentaphyllos  filiqua  cornuta,  Tourn.  Inft.  401. 

36  Lotus  hKmorrhoidalis  humilior  &  candidior,  Tourn.  Inft.  403. 

3  7  Melongena  fru&u  oblongo  violaceo,  Tourn.  Inft.  151. 

38  Melo  j^gyptiacus,  C.  B.  P.  311. 

3  9  Morus  fruiftu  nigro  minori,  foliis  eleganter  laciniatis,  Tourn.  Inft. 

40  Mufa  fru&u  cucumerino  breviori,  Plum.  Nov.  Gen.  24. 

41  Nicotiana  major  anguftifolia,  C.  B.  P.  170. 

42  Oryza,  Lob.  Icon.  31. 

43  Palma  dafiylifera  fru<Su  longiori,  N.  D. 

44  Palma  Thebaica  dichotoma  folio  flabelliformi,  pedunculis  fpinofis 

frucEtu  racemofo  feftili  fparfo,  N.  D. 
4j  Phafeolus  iEgyptiacus  nigro  femine,  C.  B.  P. 
4,6  Phafeolus  iEgyptius  villofus,  foliis  rotund ioribus,  flore  purpureo. 

47  Pinus  Halepenfis,  foliis  tenuibus  laste  viridibus,  Hort.  Chelf. 

48  Polium  Valentinum  fruticofum  anguftifolium  flore  albo,  Barrel. 

49  Ranunculus  Afphodeli  radice  flore  fanguineo,  C.  B.  P.  281. 

50  Refeda  vulgaris,  C.  B.  P.  100. 

51  Ricinus  vulgaris,  C.  B.  P.  432. 

5  2  Salix  folio  brevi  angufto,  N.  D. 
j  3  Sclarea,  Tab.  Icon.  373. 

54  Senna  Italica  five  foliis  obtufis,  C.  B.  P.  397. 

jj  Senna  Alexandrina  five  foliis  acutis,  C.  B.  P.  397. 

56  Solanum  pomiferum,  frudlu  ftriato  duro,  Vail. 

57  Tamarifcus  folio  tenuiore,  Park.  1479. 

58  Thymelea  tomentofa,  fedi  minoris  foliis,  C.  B.  P.  463. 

59  Veronica  aquatica  major,  folio  oblongo,  Mor.  hift. 

60  Vitex  foliis  anguftioribus  cannabis  modo  difpofitis,  C.  B.  P.  475. 

61  Xylon  arboreum,  J.  B.  1.  346. 

Plants  of  Arabia  PetrjEa. 

6z  An?  Apocynum  Bithynicum  arbores  altiffimas  fcandens  folio  fubro- 
tundo,  T.  Cor. 

63  Apocynum  erectum  latifolium  incanum  Syriacum  floribus  parvis  ob- 

folete  purpurcafcentibus,  Par.  Bat.  Beid-el-offar. 
64.  Acacia  vera,  J.  B. 

65  Abfinthium  orientale  fruticofum  incanum  amplo  folio  tenuiffime  in- 

cifo,  Cor.  Inft. 

66  Afparagus  aculeatus,  C.  B. 

6  j  Acetofa  iEgyptia  rofeo  feminis  involucro,  folio  lacero,  Lippi. 

68  Afterifcus  orientalis  elatior,  flore  fulphureo,  N.  D. 

69  Aftragalus  orientalis  candidifllmus  et  tomentofus,  Cor.  Inft. 

70.  Aftra- 


OBSERVATIONS 


70  Aftragalus  orientalis  ramofus  frudtu  adunco,  Cor.  Inft. 

7 1  An  ?  Aftragalus  orientalis  foliis  vicia;  incanis  caule  nudo  erefto  flori- 

bus  luteis,  Cor.  Inft. 
yz  Beta  Cretica  lemine  aculeato,  C.  B. 

73  Colutea  orientalis  foliis  minoribus  fubrotundis,  vefica  atro  rubente, 

N.  D. 

74  Fabago  Belgarum  five  peplus  Parifienfium,  Lugd. 
7  j  Ficus  Sylveftris. 

76  Gramen  orientale  capitulis  Pfylii. 

77  An?  Geranium  mofchatum  abfinthii  folio,  Cor.  Inft. 

7  8  Harmala,  Dod. 

79  Hyofcyamus  Creticus  luteis  major,  C.  B.  P. 

80  Hyofcyamus  Creticus  luteis  minor,  C.  B.  P. 

8 1  Jacobam  iEgyptia  coronopi  folio,  Lippi. 

8z  Lithofpermum  Delium  arvenfe  minus  fupinum  flore  minimo  albo, 
Cor.  Inft. 

83  Lunaria  fruticofa  perennis  incana  Leucoii  folio  filiqua  oblonga,  Cor. 

Inft. 

84  Lychnis  orientalis  Cariophylli  hortenfis  folio,  Cor.  Inft. 
85-  Phalangium  ramofum  parvo  flore  albo,  N.  D. 

86  Populus,  nigra  C.  B. 

87  Phlomis  orientalis  lutea  anguftifolia  cymis  fulvefcentibus,  D.  Sherard. 

88  Refeda  vulgaris,  C.  B. 

8  9  Ricinus  vulgaris,  C.  B. 

90  Rubeola  orientalis  minima  flore  purpurafcente,  Cor.  Inft. 

91  An?  Rubeola  Cretica  faxatalis  fruticofa  Galii  folio  flore  purpuro-vio- 

laceo,  Cor.  Inft. 

91  Symphytum  orientale  oles  folio  argenteo  flore  flavefcente,  Cor.  Inft. 

93  An?  Symphytum  orientale  echii  folio  minori  flore  nunc  albo  nunc 

flavefcente,  Cor.  Inft. 

94  Atriplex  orientalis  frutefcens  folio  ampliffimo  argenteo,  Cor.  Inft. 

95  Tamarifcus  Narbonenfis,  Lob. 


CHAP.  XIX. 
Of  a  Statue  lately  brought  from  Egypt. 

'  ■  '  H  E  ftatue  reprefented  in  the  feventy-fixth  plate  is  of  wood,  of  the 
fize  it  is  drawn ;  it  is  very  particular,  as  it  fhews  the  garment  de- 
fcribed  in  the  account  of  the  ftatue  in  the  fixty-fecond  plate.  That  ftiff 
garment,  as  it  feems  to  be,  is  feen  better  in  this,  as  the  figure  is  ftanding  ; 
one  would  imagine  that  it  was  in  fome  manner  faften'd  to  the  legs,  or  drawn 
up  fo  as  to  hinder  it  from  fetting  out  behind,  as  it  does  before. 

After  what  relates  to  the  other  ftatues  was  printed  off,  this  curious  piece 
was  fent  from  Egypt,  with  feveral  other  antiquities,  to  His  Grace  the  Duke 
of  Richmond.  Among  them,  befldes  a  fine  mummy,  are  feveral  Egyp- 
tian urns,  in  the  form  of  the  Canopus,  and  whatever  they  depofited  in 
them,  remains  in  moft  of  them;  and  on  examination,  I  found  great  rea- 
fon  to  be  perfuaded  that  they  preferved  the  heart  in  thefe  urns. 

DIS- 


(  ) 


DISSERTATIO 


D  E 


GEOGRAPHIA 


M  G   Y  P   T  I. 


PR^MONITIO. 

|N  tibi,  le£tor  bcnevole,  differtatiunculam  de  iEgypti  geo- 
graphia  in  eum  finem  a  me  confcriptam,  ut  lucem  ali- 
quam  tabular  noftra?  geographies  darem,  limul  et  earn 
contra  objectiones  prsmunirem. 

Iftius  tabula?  ea  ratio  a  me  inftituta  eft,  ut  quam 
accuratiffime  definitam  exhiberem  veterem  geographiam 
iEgyptiacam.  Quod  ad  fubfidia  hujus  operis  perficiendi  attinet,  fcias 
velim,  mihi  in  iEgypto  agenti,  forte  fortuna,  in  manus  perveniffe  par- 
vam  quandam  chartulam  manu  P.  Sicardi  delineatam:  Noftra  cum  ilia 
convenit  de  gradibus  latitudinis,  ficut  etiam  de  fitu  iftarum  partium, 
quafcunque  oculis  ipfemet  non  luftravi,  excepto  quod  delineationem 
orx  maritime  a  Delta,  tam  orientem  quam  occidentalem  verlus,  tranf- 
tulerim  ex  chartis  nauticis.     Chartula  qusdam  alia,    manu  exarata, 

D  d  d  d  ex 


DISSERTATIO  DE 


ex  iEgypto  allata,  fuppeditavit  mihi  chorographiam  regionis  qua;  cir- 
cumjacet  SS.  Antonii  et  Pauli  monafteria:  Tertiam  quandam  chartam 
pro  folita  fua  humanitate  mecum  communicavit  dadtiffimus  prxful  D.  D. 
Nicholaus  Claget  epifcopusExonienfis:  Earn  antea  videram  Conftantinopoli 
penes  digniffimum  virum  mihique  afniciffimum  Thomam  Payne  archidia- 
conum  Breconienfem:  Ea  defcripta  eft  fignis  tarn  Arabicis  quam  Grscis,  in 
ufum  (ut  titulus  pras  fe  fert)  Chryfanthi  patriarchs  Hierofolymitani,  anno 
Domini  millefino  feptingentefimo  vicefimo  fecundo.  Delineator  (quifquis 
fuerit  ille)  videtur  fe  totum  compofuiffe  ad  librorum  defcriptiones,  non 
oculorum  fidem  in  locis  perluftrandis  acutus:  Inde  adeo  cauthis  illius  vefti- 
giis  inhaerendum  cenfui.  Siquid  excerpferim,  fuis  notis  diftindtum  exhi- 
bet  tabula  noftra. 

Binorum  oftiorum  Nili  prse  csteris  ingentium,  et  totius  fluminis  ripas 
ufque  ad  cataradtas,  et  ultra,  ipfe  navigans  delineavi.  In  ea  navigatione, 
quam  potui  diligentiflime  notavi  fluxus  varios  fluminis  et  fitum  locorum : 
Montium  juga  depinguntur  prout  in  ifta  navigatione  apparebant. 

Loca  habes  fuis  defcripta  nominibus,  tarn  veteribus  quam  hodiernis ; 
ilia  fignantur  literis  majufculis  Romanis,  hsc  autem  Italicis.  Notas  infuper 
vides,  quibus  dignofcas  cujufnam  audtoris  potiflimum  fidem  hinc  inde  fum- 
fecutus ;  additis  infuper  aliis,  triplicis  generis,  compendio  exhibentibus 
imxgitri))  meam  de  vero  locorum  fitu,  quatenus  difpofitio  noftra  inniti  vi- 
detur argumentis  certis,  probabilibus,  vel  demum  conjedturabilibus :  Sub 
claffe  pofteriore  cadunt  ea  loca,  quae  nulla  fignantur  nota.  Veterum  fof- 
farum  curfus,  quantum  conjedtura  aflequor,  fignavi  duplici  pundtulorum 
fubobfcuriorum  ferie.  Latitudinem  fluvii  vix  ullo  in  loco  pluris  seftima- 
verim  quam  quingentis  paffibus ;  inde  adeo  ratio  magnitudinis  ejus  a  me 
certo  confilio  amplificabatur,  ut  effet  facultas  et  fpatium  infulas  fignandi. 
Alveum  continue  decrefcentem  vides  fuperne ;  eft  ifte  quidem  error  chal- 
cographo  vertendus  vitio.  Magnitudo  foftie  feu  fluvii  Baher  Jofeph,  in 
confinio  Benefuief  ab  occidente  alluentis,  ad  ipfum  Nilum  earn  fere  ha- 
bet  proportionem,  Sicardo  autore,  quam  noftra  exhibet  tabula. 

Ex  utraque  ripa  Nili,  trans  Deltam  infuper,  et  a  Copto  ad  Berenicen, 
itinera  fignavi,  fecundum  Antoninum,  additis  diftantiis.  Ubicunque  oc- 
currit  numerus  duplex,  fcias  velim,  pofteriorem  a  me  emendationis  loco 
haberi ;  quippe  cum  numeri  olim  recepti  non  quadrarent  cum  veris  diftan- 
tiis locorum  :  Idem  eft  inftitutum  meum  quoad  loca  in  vicinio  Maris  Ru- 
bri,  quorum  latitudines  ex  Ptolemaeo  defumuntur. 

Infularum,  quafcunque  oculis  ipfemet  attentius  perluftravi,  margines 
fignantur  linea  altius  imprefsa. 

Sicardians  charts  fidem  omnino  fecutus  fum  in  foffis  delineandis,  qux 
confpiciuntur  circa  Faiume.  Haec  fatis  eft  monuifie  lectorem,  cujus  can- 
dori  me  tabulamque  meam  committo.  Errores  hinc  inde  latere  nullus 
dubitoj  neque  enim  ea  eft  ipfius  regionis  jEgyptiacae  natura,  non  ii  inco- 
larum  mores,  ut  fas  fit  peregrinantibus  animo  obfequi,  aut  tutd  curiofis 
obfervationibus  inftituendis  fe  dare.  Habes  tabulam  cateris  forfan,  qus 
hadtenus  prodierunt,  emendatiorem,  quantulumcunque  mea;  induftrias  mo- 
numentum,  aliens  tamen,  ut  fpero,  incitamentum. 


Dilfertatio 


GEOGRAPHIA  iEGYPTI. 


287 


Diflertatio  de  Geographia  JEgypti. 

G  Y  P  T  U  M  ab  occidentc  excipit  Libya.  Nomos  prima  (ifto  enim 
nomine  vocabantur  provincial  ejus)  occidentem  verfus  dicitur  no- 
mos Mareotis,  in  qua  confpicitur  vicus  Chymo  *,  habitus  pro  Cy-  Cynofcma, 
nofema  Strabonis,  quam  quidem  locaverim  in  fitu  turris  Arabics :  Tabula 
Chryfanthina  turrem  hanc  collocat  in  fitu  Plinthines,  qua?,  me  judice, 
magis  ad  orientem  vergebat. 

In  ipfo  introitu  vallis  cujufdam  aliquantulum  recedentis  a  mari,  et  ab 
Alexandria  circiter  triginta  millia  paffuum  occidentem  verfus,  adhuc  con- 
ipiciuntur  rudera  quaedam  urbis  cum  columnis  magnificis:  Ita  nimirum 
memoravit  mihi  vir  quidam  fide  dignus  avroirlm.  Hanc  habeo  pro  Tapofiri  Tapofitijj 
Strabonis  b ;  columnas  autem  pro  reliquiis  fenaculi  in  quo  agebatur  pane- 
gyris,  feu  conventus  publicus.  Introitum  vallis  habeo  pro  tcrmino  maris 
'Avvfyts  dicii. 

Hinc  commoda  fefe  ofFert  occafio  difquirendi  de  lacubus  Mareoti  et  r,aCus  Ma- 
Moeri.  Strabo  c  collocat  lacum  Mareiam  feu  Mareotin  prope  Alexandriam,  J^rss& 
latitudinem  seftimans  oftodecim  millibus  quingentis  et  quinquagenta  paf- 
fuum ;  longitudinem  triginta  feptem  millibus  et  quingentis ;  lacum  Marin 
vero  prope  labyrinthum.  Herodotus a  nullum  alium  lacum  memorat  prater 
Moerion ;  ille,  affentientibus  Diodoro  Siculo  c  et  Mutiano,  seftimat  circum- 
ferentiam  ejus  quadringentis  quinquaginta  millibus  paffuum ;  Pomponius 
Mela  f  quingentis,  Plinius  8  ducentis  quinquaginta.  Hie  ille  lacus  fuit  ad 
labyrinthum;  quantum  vero  ipfe  oculis  eum  metiri  poffem,  non  videba- 
tur  longitudine  pertinere  ultra  triginta  mille  paffus,  latitudine  vero  fex 
mille ;  Sicardus  longitudinem  ejus  asftimat  quinquaginta  paffibus,  latitudi- 
nem quindecim  mille,  Gallica  fcilicet  menfuratione.  Sicardo  lubens  tri- 
buerim  hac  in  re  laudem  accuratioris  obfervationis,  ideoque  in  tabula  mea 
illius  fidem  fum  fecutus. 

Quandoquidem  fcriptores  fupra  memorati  huic  lacui  tantam  amplitudi- 
nem  ambitus  uno  ore  tribuant,  Herodotufque  affirmet  illius  longitudinem 
ab  aquilone  ad  auftrum  extendi,  nihil  prius  potiufve  conje&ura  ftatuen- 
dum  arbitror,  quam  hunc  lacum  aliquando  olim  difFufum  pertinuiffe  per 
totam  iftam  vallem,  maris  'Ayuc^s  (feu  vacui  aqua)  nomine  etiamnum  nun- 
cupatam.  Nec  vero  abfimile  eft  eum  etiam  occidentem  verfus  patuiffe  uf- 
que  ad  ripam  lacus  Mcerios ;  quod  quidem  in  caufa  potuerit  fuiffe  cur  He- 
rodotus Mcerin  filentio  pertranfierit.  Narrat  certe  opinionem  invaluiffe  a- 
quam  lacus  hujufce  habere  exitum  verfus  Syrtes  fubter  juga  montium 
Memphi  imminentium ;  quo  fortaffe  innuit,  quod  obfervatum  fuerat  ibi  exi- 
tum patuiffe,  quando,  Nilus  folito  inferius  fubfidiffet,  quo  quidem  tem- 
pore fieri  potuit,  ut  ipfae  lacus  aquae  itidem  decrefcerent  intra  lacus  hodier- 
ni  anguftias  *. 

a  NOMOT  MAPEiiTOT  OTtf§aAi©-  X«|U«  xteltw  'j  juaitg^  ij^/pij  woae  (&o%tw  n  ^  iotbi.-  Herod. 

Ptol.  1.  iv.  c.  5.  1.  ii.  c.  149. 

X°pW  f*eya>>jv.  Strab.  J.  Xvii.  p.  799.  ilm  ioj.a^tKim  Kj  e|«lCDo-|'aiv.  Diod.  i.  i.  p.  48. 

c  *H  3  Mxgaat  Ai'jwvtj  tsfeletwa  jut^e^  ^  Jtu^o,  f  Mceris,  aliquando  campus,  nunc  lacus  quin- 

&ha7@*  fjj«        Tshtiavw  $  Krev7ji'nov7a  «,  hutiv  soi-  genta  millia  parTuum  circuitu  patens.  Mela.  1.  i.  c.  9. 

AW,  pm®*  S'ihx-tllmv  $  T&coioaiw.  Strab.  1.  xvii.  e  Inter  Arfmoiten  ac  Memphiten  lacus  fuit, 

p.  799.  circuitu  cclm  parTuum  ;  aut,  ut  Mudanus  tradit, 

d  'H  Moi'e^©-  KaAE0(W£kt)  A/pvq            to  .s&<'u6-  cccclm,  a  rege,  qui  fecerat,  Mceridis  adpellatus. 

Tgoy  ^  n&tih  w\  soiSm  t£«xsVioi  x,  re/trX'h,ai   ^lin.  !■  v-  c-  9-         *  Vid.  ^ot.  priced. 

Strabo 


a88  DISSERTATIO  DE 

Foffa  Akx-      Strabo11  defcriptionem  aggreditur  foffa;  cujufdam  ducentis  ab  Alexandria 


andriiu. 


ad  Canopum  et  Schediam ;  obfciiriufcula  fane  eft  ea  defcriptio,  ft  ad  hodier- 
nam  regionis  faciem  exigatur.  lib  auctore,  una  eademque  fofld  ad  utrum- 
que  locum  navigatur;  ad  ripain  ejufdem  fita  eft  Eleulis,  et  paululum  Eleuii 
progreflb  ad  dextram  eft  foffa  qua;  Schediam  deducit.  Nullus  itaque  du- 
bito  quin  ea  fit  foffa  qua;  hodie  Alexandrina  appellatur,  et  ob  hanc  cau- 
fam  fignavi  tramitem  cujufdam  foffie  pertingentis  ab  hodierna  fofsa  Alex- 
andrina ad  Canopum  et  alveum  fluvii  Canopicum:  Et  in  genere  ledores 
Strabonis  admonitos  velim,  foffam  Canopicam  aliud  quiddam  fonare  quam 
alveum  Nili  Canopicum. 

In  chartula  Chryfanthina,  alvei  Nili  fere  omnes  fuis  deftituuntur  nomi- 
nibus ;  alveus  Canopicus  ad  traje&um  nomine  Madeam,  in  ea  fignatur 
tanquam  foffa  quasdam  perexigua ;  ad  oftium  ejus  confpicitur  exitus  flu- 
violi  cujufdam,  cum  vico  Ideu  ad  ripam  ejus,  quam  delineator  habet  pro 
veteri  Schedia.  A  Bikiere  duarum  leucarum  intervallo  pervenitur  ad  tra- 
jeclum  feu  Madeam  habitum  pro  oftio  Nili  Canopico.  (Urbs  autem  Ca- 
nopus,  nomen  traxiffe  dicitur  a  Canopo  Menelai  navis  gubernatore  ibi  fe- 
pulto.)  Ad  locum  trajedtus  alveus  fluvii  admodum  coardlatur  ;  interiiis 
vero  fefe  diffundit  in  latitudinem  peramplam.  In  tabula  Sicardiana  fuec  la- 
titudo  pertingit  fere  ufque  ad  ipfum  Nilum  ;  fignantur  etiam  tres  foffe  ex 
hoc  alveo  ducentes  ad  Nilum  infra  Fouam  ;  quarum  unam  ipfe  confpexi. 
Au£tor  eft  Strabo  asdes  Canopicas  ad  foffam  fuiffe  conftrufias ;  ideo  collo- 
caverim  Canopum  ad  exitum  foffa;  in  ipfum  fluvium,  urbem  vero  He- 
racleum  haud  procul  ab  oftio  alvei  Canopici,  unde  nomen  alterum  oftii 
Heracleotici In  eoquod  afferit  foffam  communicari  cum  lacu,  hoc  velle 
videtur,  fcilicet  earn  ferri  pene  contiguam  margini  lacus,  quod  quidem  fit 
hodie :  Et  eft  error  fere  communis  verfionum  Strabonis,  curfum  itineris  ad 
fluvium  ad  Canopum  et  Schediam  recta  patere  per  lacum ;  cum  vox  Tzvry 
referenda  potius  effet  ad  Stap£.  Credibile  eft  tarn  exitum  foffa;  Canopies, 
quam  oftium  alvei  Canopici  majorem  olim  amplitudinem  habuiffe:  cum- 
que  flantibus  aquilonibus  aqua  marina  in  lacum  impellitur,  ea;  faucium 
anguftia;  prohibent  quo  minus  aqua  fluvialis  in  iftis  partibus  faliitudine  de- 
purgetur;  et  hax  imprimis  videtur  effe  caufa  cur  urbs  Alexandria  ex  alia 
potitTimum  parte  fluvii  aquam  Niliacam  ad  fe  deportari  maluerit.  Signare 
veros  tramites  veterum  alveorum  Nili  eft  iftud  quidam  difficilius k,  plenum 

opus 

h  E.  S&£  $  4  Kxm&ms  4  S'ipl       k  S^ilu  wQarnxs  iSxs,  k)]i  rfi  "(is  iS  TfiW 

fed.  4  3*iK«'mEo»  tWirW  if  nf^m*  t««'t,  jj"  «,  eft)  T«;  xxhtSu  nrtsVi»»  fop«-  <t  3  '"(I  *  "(is 
jMtUi  i  JrtSr  Mi  i  yiym  "olxpi,  k)  SH  r  K«'.»Co»,  kjteju.  fen"  «™  j  Kmb&mv  njm  >»»!'«'■  4  3  * 
tr(S,n  j  39n  T  E»I.«»»-  hi  S  xSrx  xiSoalx  tr^tctn  tM*  f  o'S&p  tu  NeiV»  is")  i|«V  «™£k»  Ifof*©-^  is  m 
•f  ii  x,  1s  Vmnfam  «*'  «"'r?  rj  lUw-    i&  is  M0»  itrmislM.  »jS»  on  jtff»  ufaw  » 

t^tmrntrntHh  'Ami  $<fBto**9- M0»  fe  i&h  <m  itoxff  •  <*" 

(W^i,  i,  Agi*  im  i  *«>{,  W  *  ^X>S:<"'     T®-  T«-Tf ,  St!  WW        ,  ™  ««" 

SAXa  3*  ttMptm  -f  AAsJ«»Jf«'«c  4  ZfcsA'a.  Strab.  I&rdws  »f«.    Efi  3  *  ««0>  **">•  «" 

1.  Xvii.  c.  8oo.  ts  Is6i»»u7.xs  !br.^;i^i>;a,  <pifi>I«  ifS«A«s- 

1  K«'»»6@-  J'fe)  wM!  g«  ««»o-i  it,  f«»1»>  f«Ji'«f    ™».  "ii"  S»»f"1»  «U«  T»*>  "?y«S»  ZaW'  Mi'im, 

■iari  'AAf  Wja'at  mQI  Sn,  ar«V«>  ^  <1>W  ^    T'?  5  Mf«JwEo»,  t>  3  Bha6'ti>»»  w»»  ^     BsMJumi  s« 

!»««•«  »uj  srAteu'B  ¥  'it  nT,  vKsmpas  «»3«»AV««y  J8«j<.4«  f»>*T"'  ««.  «,«»1*-iHErod-  »•  'i'c-  J7; 
^  n5s(Xillitm  U,«1S„  f,,U      i^r,,  «V.Aar,'«t,  ^        'E&Vi  J'  W  ™  «7«  r.^nir,  »»  f  (* 

Mtm  re  A  ?  i'h  ulza  i«  K«v»e<«  ?»  «KM^vs«  %  »«»to»  x«Ae.T«<  n«A«ri«]u.,  ™ 

j,.,^^  ij^w,  Hmmflbm  t?  S1«W'-  M,T<i  3    *  ^Tf{»  T««1««,  «™  ItolhjH  *  ^  S.- 

*  K«»«e»'»  fe.  ■»  •H(£kK«m:  ™  HoncAiw  e^n  Iff"'    CmiWi1,  fa  3  BrtSfriw.,  «,  K*»«M%  • 

™  K«™C,M',  ™<«  &  «  tiVet  M  AfXIa.  Strabo,  TOfe  He««Af»1.*«V  in^l™-  D,0°-  1  '■  P;  z9;  • 
I  xvii.  p.  Boi.  3  ^'f**  73  K«vuEi)Cct  fel  TD  B3Atj7rj41',  flT«  7a 


5 


GEOGRAPHIA   iE  G  Y  P  T  I. 


opus  aleas:  Herodotus  recenfet  tres  pra  ceteris  amplos,  Canopicum,  ad  par- 
tem Deltas  maxime  Occidentalem,  Pelufiacum  ad  Orientalem,  et  Scbenniti- 
cum  utrifque  interjeftum ;  e  Sebennitico  profluxiffe  ait  Saiticum  et  Men- 
defium:  Bolbitinum  et  Taniticum  artis  opere,  non  natural  fuifle  eltbora- 
tos.  Intra  omnes  Icriptores  convenit  de  alveis  Orientali  et  Occidentali ;  Ta- 
niticum etiam  ferunt  fuifle proximutn  Pelufiaco,  nifi  quod  Herodotus  addit 
quendam  nomine  Bucolicum  (eundem  ipfum  fortafle  cum  Tanitico con- 
venit etiam  inter  omnes  proximum  efle  Mendeiium  et  Bolbitinum  excepto 
Canopico  fuiffe  maxime  Occidentalem. 

Obfcurior  eft  Strabo,  in  eo  quod,  mentione  facta  de  Sebennitico  et  Pliat- 
nico,  fubjungit  "  amplitudinis  ratione  pro  tertio  habetur,"  quae  defcriptio 
procul  dubio  intelligenda  eft  de  Sebennitico. 

Herodoto  memorante,  Sebenniticus  alveus,  per  medium  Deltam  fecans 
iter,  introierat  ad  partem  ejus  maxime  Auftralem,  ubi  Sicardiana  tabula 
exhibet  quandam  foffam,  quam  in  meam  tranftuli.  Eodem  auftore,  alvei 
Saiticus  et  Mendefius  profluxerunt  e  Sebennitico,  unde  conjedturam  facio, 
Phatnicum  eundem  efle  cum  Saitico,  et  hoc  nomen  traxifle  ex  eo  quod 
proflueret  e  Saitico  ad  urbem  Sain,  fecundum  repracfentationem  in  noftra 
charta. 

Alteram  foflam,  qua:  ducit  a  Sebennitico  ad  Phatnicum,  crediderim 
fuifle  opus  recentioris  a?vi,  in  eum  finem  elaboratam  ut  conjundtio  fieret 
Sebennitici  alvei  cum  Buliritico  et  fofla  Sabuniaca:  Arthribiticum  fluvium 
e  Sebennitico  orientem  verfus  crediderim  profluxiffe  et  poftea  dedufium. 
fuifle  in  duo  \\jtv$G?o[ActTa,  Pineptimi  et  Diolcon.  Varis  infuper  occurrunt 
foffas  tranfverfe,  per  quas  navigatur  direfto  tramite  ab  uno  alveo  ad  alium ; 
verbi  gratia,  Thermuthiaca  Ptolemasi  videtur  pertigiffe  a  Cancpicoad  Seben- 
niticum,  Bufiriticum  ad  Phatnicum:  Foffam  Sabuni  habuerim  pro  fluvio, 
qui,  tefte  Ptolemax),  exiit  e  Bubaftico  feu  Pelufiaco  ad  urbem  A- 
thribin  (forte  Sakir)  in  Pathmeticum,  quo  fere  in  loco  exiit  etiam  Athri- 
biticus. 

Bubafticum  fluvium  deduxi  feptentrionem  verfus  ufque  ad  Manfouram; 
ex  ea  parte  exiiffe  videtur  Taniticus.  Nullus  dubito  quin  Bubafticus  flu- 
vius  ferebatur  olim  curfu  magis  ad  orientem  vergenti ;  (ifte  ipfe  eft  curfus 
hodiernus  foflie  Bubaftica: ;)  nec  ulla  videtur  efle  alia  methodus  commo- 
dior,  (incommodam  utique  dixeris  noftram)  conciliandi  Ptolemsum  cas- 
terofque  fcriptores,  quam  fi  fingamus  hunc  fluvium  focialibus  alterius  fluvii 
ab  auftro  venientis  undis  fuifle  adauftum,  et  Pelufium  demum  alluifle. 
Fluvii  exeuntes  per  oftia  Pelufiaca,  Canopica,  Bolbitina,  fuo  quifque  no- 
mine fignabantur,  nimirum  Bubaftico,  Agathadsmone,  et  Tali ;  ab  oftia 

SE&vviiiKot  «,  to  flWlvixbV  to/tov  y*udc%ov  tw  itej-tta  NEIAOT  soual*  £7r7«. 

tzjfecji  TCi  Z^WTOS  dVo,  oTc  W&SM  TO  AsA?o(  TW  ^  ®Ctl-  'H^xAeOjIiKO  V  SOfAX. 

VIKW  S-JUUTlist  TO  MtvJrio-iOV    «T*  TO  T«'Jl7lXoV    Kj    T£?.£U-  BoA&'riUOV  fo'^«. 

Toi?o»  to  n^sfffaKov.  "En  j  K,  aAAoo  tstwv  jus7«|u}  us  TiGiwulmov  sou*. 

«v  ^otdasopal*  oisv^an^.  Strab.  3.  xvii.  p.  801.  UiAttV^i  ^WoVojuov. 

Sunt  in  honore  et  intra  decuriiis  Nili  multa  op-  AIo?,k@-  rWoVo^ov. 

pida,  priecipue  qui  nomina  dedere  oftiis,  non  om-  na6^^Ii);ov  so'pac. 

nibus  (duodecim  enim  reperiuntur)  fuperque  qua-  MwSwov  sap*. 

tuor,  quae  ipli  falla  ora  adpellant,  fed  ecleberri-  Txmkov  sop* 

mis  feptem,  proximo  Alexandrian  Canopico,  deinde  U^^iaxtv  sop*- 
Boibitino,  Sebennitico,  Phatnico,  Mendefio,  Ta- 
nitico, ultimoque,  Pelufiaco.  PlinA.v.  c.  10. 

E  e  e  c  tamen 


a9o  DISSERTATIODE 

taraen  aliquando  ad  fluvium  nomen  tranfiit.  Hue  forfan  referenda  eft 
ambiguitas  nominum  Bucolici  et  Tanitici,  quorum  fcrfan  illud  fluvium, 
hoc  vero  oftium  primitus  denotabat. 

Ptolemaeus  recenfet  tria  Delta,  primum  et  quidem  maximum,  alveis 
Tria  Delta  Orientali  et  Occidentali  interjeftam :  Alium,  cognomine  Parvum,  fluvio 
Bubaftico  et  alveis  Bufiritico  Phatnicoque  comprehenfum ;  et  tertium  de- 
mum  ab  Oriente  terminatum  fluvio  Bufiritico  et  Parhmetico  alveo,  ex  al- 
tera parte  a  fofsa  qua;  ducitur  ex  Bubaftico  fluvio  ad  fluvium  Pathmeticum 
juxta  urbem  Arthribin,  neque  audiendus  eft  Ptolemaus  (nec  enim  fibi  con- 
flat)  dum  affirmat  hanc  foflam  conjungi  cum  Pineptimi.  Et  ha;c  quidem 
de  alveis  Niliacis  oftiifque  eorum  difta  funto :  Ea  omnia  qua  potui  accu- 
ratione  charta  noftra  exhibet  defcripta ;  veftigia  veterum  fcriptorum  nec 
indiligenter  fum  fecutus,  ut  nodos  expedirem  quibus  laborare  folet  hax 
materia  prae  ceteris  vexatiflima  ;  quam  ut  plenius  intelligat,  iterum  ite- 
rumque  monendus  eft  lector,  ut  eofdem  illos  fcriptores  evolvat,  difpofiti- 
onefque  charts  noftra  ad  Vetera  ilia  monumenta  attento  animo  ftudioquc 
referat. 

Ab  Alexandria,  naviganti  fecundum  Strabonem,  Eleufis  prima  occurrit, 
fita  ad  foiTam  Canopicam:  Ulterius  progredienti  ad  dextram  fefe  ofFert 
foffa,  qua  ducit  adSchediam;  itinere  feiheet  deflexo  verfus  Euro-auftrum ; 
unde  conjedturam  facio  Schediam  refte  collocari  in  vico  hodierno  Damane- 
hour,  nec  alium  vicum  denotare  to  Circu  Itinerarii,  quippe  cum  ab  Alex- 
andria aequali  diftat  intervallo,  ut  aurftor  eft  Strabo  cum  Itinerario  col- 
latus. 

Crediderim  alveum  Canopicum  occlufum  fuiffe  in  eo  fere  loco  unde  exiit 
Balbitinus,  et  viam  poftea  fibi  fecifle  triplici  ifta  fofla  quam  charta  noftra 
exhibet  defcriptam,  (quotiefcunque  fcilicet  altiori  flumine  infurgit  Nilus.) 
Naucratin  collocaverim  ad  vicum  Foua  ex  adverfo  foflae  Alexandrine  ho- 

Naucratin.  dierna  ;  earn  ipfam  efle  veterem  illam  auguror  qua  olim  itum  eft  ad  Sche- 
diam. In  vico  Samocrate  aliquatenus  auftraliore  agnofcere  videor  reliquias 
veteris  faltem  nominis  Naucratis. 

SaiS'  Sain  veterem  conftituerim  ad  ripam  occidentalem  fofla;  illius  quae  exit 

ex  oftio  Sebennitico ;  Ptolemseo  nimirum  tefte,  ea  urbs  ifti  fluvio  et  Cano- 
pico  alveo  interjicitur,  nec  tamen  negaverim  urbem  Sakir  fitam  in  ripa 
Orientali  confervare  reliquias  iftius  nominis  parce  detorti :  Ea  urbs  a  Nau- 
crati  diftabat  duorum  fchcenorum  feu  decern  millium  pafluum  intervallo. 
Sicardus  earn  habet  pro  veteri  Xoi,  ego  vero  ad  Aquilonem  magis  vergere 
ftatuerim  ;  Ptolemaus  utrumque  nomon  Sebenniten  ab  auftro  fpedtare 
Arthribin;  inferiorem  fcilicet,  cui  metropolis  Pachnamunis,  fuperiorem, 
cui  Sebennitus. 

Xois.  Xois  1  haberi  folet  pro  urbe  infulari  ,•   nimirum  objedu  foflarum  quo- 

rundam  fit  infula.  Ptolemseo  ftatuente,  fita  erat  hac  urbs  inter  fluvios 
Thermuthiacum  et  Athribiticum,  ideoque  in  terra  continente :  Strabo  col- 
locat  earn  in  nomo  Sebennitico.  Ptolemaus  autem  recenfet  nomon  quen- 
dam  Xoitem,  avo  forfan  recentiore  defumptum  ex  Sebennitico,  ab  hac 
urbe  profluxifle  videtur  appellatio  ilia  totius  regionis,  quae  occurrit  in  facra 
fcriptura,  fcilicet  Terra  de  Zoan. 

1  'Ev  3  t?  fAtfeyuAX.  tJj  vWej  ts  Ss€evvv7ix?  ttj  $«'t-    Ti*t>  vetifi  Strab.  1.  vii.  p.  802. 

Ptolemaus 


3 


GEOGRAPHIA   iEGYPTI.  29r 

Ptolema;us  habetThmuim  pro  primaria  urbe  nomi  Mendefii,  Strabo  au- 
tem  Menden  ;  unde  conjeduram  facio  eandem  effe  urbem,  duplici  infig- 
nitam  nomine:  Herodotus  etiam  recenfet  nomon  quendam  Thmuiten  ; 
hinc  fadum  ut  hicce  nomos  etiam  duplex  fortitus  fit  nomen.  Mentiorie 
fada  de  alveo  Tanitico,  Strabo  eum  appellat  Saiticum,  quam  binomiam 
funt  qui  augurantur  ortam  fuiffe  ex  eo  quod  urbis  Tanis  prirnitus  appellata 
fuerit  Sais:  Cum  vero  neminem  Straboni  fuflragantem  legimus,  ftatuerim 
potius  Strabonem  erraviffe,  et  Saiticum  eundem  effe  cum  Phatnitico.  Bu- 
firiticus  fluvius,  fecundum  Ptolemseum,  effluit  ex  alveo  Bubaftico  in  Phat- 
nicum,  adeoque  habetur  tantum  pro  foffa  quadam  tranfverfa  inter  eos 
alveos. 

Sicardus  auguratur  fe  reperiffe  veftigia  veteris  Cynopoleos  apud  Chiu. 

Tertium  Delta  *  ftatuitur  inter  fluvios  Bufiriticum,  et  eum  qui  effluit  e 
Bubaftico  in  Pineptimi  (dicendum  forfan  erat,  in  Phatniticum  ;)  eum  ego 
habuerim  pro  foffa  Sabuni,  qua;  ex  Nilo  ducitur  ad  urbem  Aboufir.  Dum 
Ptolema;us  fluvium  appellat  Bubafticum,  tarn  hie  quam  ubi  mentionem 
facit  de  ortu  Bufiritici,  intelligendus  eft  innuere  velle  Taniticum  ex  eo 
adhuc  inferius  defluxiffe,  forfan  apud  Manfouram,  quo  in  loco,  conjedura; 
mea;  aliquantulum  tribuens,  collocavi  Tanin ;  cumque  Bubafticus  eo  in  Tanis- 
loco  defledit  verfus  orientem,  eum  habuerim  pro  Tafne,  ob  captivitatem 
Ludovici  IX.  in  bello  facro  fatis  famofa.  Recentiores  quofdam  lectitavi 
recenfentes  rudera  qusdam  urbis  adhuc  confpici  apud  Themaie,  intervallo 
feptem  leucarum  a  Manfoura  orientem  verfus:  In  iis  fignare  poffe  videor 
reliquias  veteris  Heracleopoleos  parva;,  feu,  memorante  Sicardo,  Balbeios: 
Primaria  quidem  urbs  fuit  ilia  nomi  Sethroits,  Sethri  nomine  olim  appel- 
lata. Secundum  Itinerarium,  hsc  urbs  recedit  a  Pelufio  intervallo  viginti 
duum  mille  paffuum. 

Foffa  Regalis  pertinebat  a  Phacufa,  qua;  fita  erat  ad  alveum  Bubafticum,  FfHRe- 
ufque  ad  mare  Erythrseum :  In  eo  curfu  videtur  lacum  quendam  pertran-  ° 
fiffe,  forfan  etiam  impedito  aquarum  curfu  feciffe,  et  praterlapfam  He- 
roopolin  exiiffe  demum  ad  urbem  (Arfinoem  hodie)  Suez:  Et  intervallo  cir- 
citer  ducentorum  quinquaginta  paffuum  ab  occidentali  parte  Suez  animad- 
verti  veftigia  veteris  cujufdam  alvei. 

Foffa  Trajani  extendebatur  a  Babylone,  vel  vetere  Cairo;  et  difertis  vcr-  FoDiTra. 
bis  dicitur  allabi  Heroopolin;  hoc  autem  fieri  non  potuiffe  ftatuunt  ali- ]lm 
qui,  nifi  exaruerit  foffa  Regum:  Mihi  quidem  facilis  videtur  effe  nodi  hu- 
jufce  explicatio,  fi  fecundum  charts  noftise  repraffentationem  fingamus 
hanc  foffam  Trajani  influxiffe  in  illam  alteram  Regalem  fupra  memora- 
tam.  Apud  veterem  Cairo  adhuc  confpicitur  quasdam  foffa  vergens  ad 
Euro-aquilonem  ;  Sicardus  earn  terminari  fingit  in  lacu  Birk-el-Hadjee  ; 
aliis  autem  memorantibus  audivi  earn  rivulo  quodam  illapfam  lacui,  in  ul- 
teriora  deferri. 

In  parte  charta;  noftrs  Euro-aquilonari  confpicitur  fluvius  Sihor,  qui  ^vial 
difterminaffe  dicitur  Pala;ftinam  ab  Egypto  m  :  In  textu  biblii  originali  vox 
fonat  Torrentem  Egypti,  et  apud  LXX.  redditur  Rhinocorura :  Tabula; 
nautica;  hie  loci  exhibent  rivulum  quendam,  infervientem  aquationi  nau- 

*  Aiyatm  <J'  a*  jt,  t^'tow  A=aI«  ju.e7«^u  sw       H£tj-     Tg/TS  Asa7«  3-etrif.    Ptol.  IV.  C.  5. 

f4-'»>,  xM  if}{Sai  i  B»6*f«o!  as  $  A' A8e/'Ci«!  jto-       m  Efaise  xxvii.  12. 

Ala,-,   K,  T«  n»v£7rli^i    f s'p»7©J   f'icvlfl,  K  K,  w-.i  '* 


tarum ; 


29z  DISSERT  A  TIODE 

tarum ;  nec  defunt  probati  fcriptores  qui  mentionem  faciunt  de  torrente 
de  Rhinocorura:  Vici  itidem  Gaza;  ■>  pertigiffe  dicuntur  ufque  ad  torren- 
tem  Hgypti ;  falfos  itaque  habuit  quofdam  ea  opinio,  voce  ifta  innui 
Nilum. 

Latrus  Sirbo-  Lacum  Sirbonim  colloco  apud  Faramidaftangoni,  eique  pro  limitibus 
antiquis  conftituo  infulas  iftas,  feu  rupes,  qus  notantur  in  charta  nautica. 
Hie  ille  lacus  eft  apud  poetas  ob  Typhonem  fubter  pofitum  famofus :  Lon- 
gitudine  patuit  viginti  quinque  millia  paffuum,  latitudine  autem  fex  millia 
et  quingenta.  Aliquandiu  ab  eo  ad  mare  exitus  dabatur  per  alveum 
quendam  nomine  Ecregma.  Strabo  fcribit  hanc  foffam  objeclis  arenis 
aruifle:  Poftea  temporis  crediderim  impetu  maris  diuturno  receffiffe  ripam 
iftam  anguftam,  cujus  objeflu  lacus  olim  difterminabatur  a  mari ;  cumque 
hoc  modo  vifum  minus  accuratum  eftugiat,  lacus  ifte,  non  miror  quof- 
dam a  recentioribus  fcriptitafle  Sirbonin  jam  diu  arenis  eflc  oppletam. 
Conjedluram  noftram  conformant  dua;  chartse  geographical  manufcriptae  ex 
oculorum,  non  aurium  fide  defcripts,  qua;  mihi  Venetiis  agenti  in  manus 
pervenerunt,  et  fmum  quendam  lacu  Sirboni  exhibent :  Animadvertendum 
eft  Strabonem,  dum  recenfet  qusdam  memoratu  digniora  de  hoc  lacu, 
videri  eum  panim  diftinxifTe  a  mari  Mortuo. 

Chabrix.  Ad  ripam  orientalem  oftii  Pelufiaci  collocatur  Carabez  in  tabula  ma- 
nufcripta ;  earn  crediderim  fignare  locum  Chabriarum  ;  quas,  ficuti  etiam 
Gerras,  fcribit  Strabo  fuiffe  fitas  in  loco  deprelliori  et  paiuftri ;  Plinius  habet 
Chabrias  pro  Caftro. 

Hie  loci  animadvertendus  eft  error  Itinerarii  Antonini,  quo  numerante 
recenfetur  certe  nimis  longum  intervallum  ducentorum  et  tredecim  mille 
paffuum  a  Pelufio  ad  Alexandriam. 

Pdiirmm.  Pelufium  in  tabula  Chryfanthina  dicitur  Attineh,  etymologia  prorfus 
confimili  in  utraque  lingua,  tam  Graeca  quam  Arabics;  Tine  enim  Ara- 
bice,  zTtjTii;  Grace,  fonat  Ccenum. 

Inter  proficifcendum  a  Nilo  ad  Mahallam,  dimidio  (fcilicet  duum  mille 
paffuum)  itinere  confefto  pertranfimus  foffam  quandam  exiguam  dedu- 
£tam  ex  magna  ilia  qua;  pertingit  ad  Borlom :  Ad  ripam  ejus  Borealem 
confpicitur  vicus,  quo  fere  in  loco  jungitur  cum  alia  quadam  majore  ad 
Thraciam  vergente.  In  ripa  iftius  majoris  foffar,  iter  erat  quaff  duorum 
mille  paffuum,  quo  confecio,  earn  cymba  trajecimus,  aliamque  porro,  cui 
fuperimponitur  pons  lapide  quadrato,  ad  orientalem  partem  urbis  Mahallae. 
Hinc  Euro-aquilonem  verfus  iter  eft  ad  Baalbait  quaff  novem  mille  paffuum, 
inde  devenitur  ad  ripam  occidentalem  prsdiclas  foflje,  aliamque  porro 
cymba  trajecimus,  quartamque  vado;  et  duum  mille  quafi  paffuum  in- 
tervallo  demum  pervenitur  ad  amplum  quendam  alveum  a  Nilo  dedudum 
infra  Semmenud,  et  in  mare  profluentem  ad  orientalem  partem  lacus  Bru- 
los :  Accolss  earn  appellarunt  Thabaneam ;  ego  vero  ftatuerim  earn  effe  ip- 
fum  Mendeffum,  e  Phatnico  profluentem,  quem  itaque  eo  nomine  diftinxi, 
Herodoti  mentem,  ni  fallor,  affecutus. 

In  hujus  mei  itineris  curfu  cum  fola  ex-trema  alveorum  legerim,  nec  in 
interiora  regionis  delatus  fuerim,  fuse  notaffe  fatis  habui,  neque  fatis  fub- 
ffdii  fum  affecutus,  ut  de  alveorum  curfu  quidpiam  auderem  mutare. 


"  Jofuas  xv.  47. 


Sunt 


GEOGRAPHIA    .EGYPT  I.  293 

Sunt  qui  Babylonis  veftigia  quarunt  in  ipsa  vetere  Cairo,  eo  autem  dif-  Babylon, 
convenit  eos  inter  et  Strabonem  °,  quod  hie  afferit  per  clivum  afcendi  a 
Nilo  ad  Babylona,  planities  autem  mille  paffuum  Iatitudine  patens  exten- 
ditur  inter  Nilum  et  veterem  Cairo:  Lubens  itaque  Babylona  collocavcrim 
in  colle  Jehufi,  fitu  a  vetere  Cairo  euro-auftrali ;  in  quo  quidem  adhuc 
confpiciuntur  adificiorum  collapforum  rudera;  hue  adde,  quod  hie  fitus 
apprime  quadrat  cum  Herodoto  afferente  Babylona  e  dianietro  fpedtare 
verfus  pyramidas. 

Memoriae  proditum  accepimus  Memphin  abfuiffe  a  Delta  quindecim  Memphis, 
mille  '  paffuum,  quinque  d  pyramidibus  ;  lacu  ad  aquilonem  et  zephy- 
rum  fuiffe  terminatam ;  ad  orientem  ab  ipfo  Nilo  ;  intervallo  quad  duo- 
decim  mille  paffuum,  verfus  auflrum  ingentem  portendi  aggerem  in  eum 
finem  coacervatum,  ut  Nilus,  relifto  veteri  alveo,  in  quo  alluebat  radices 
collium  occidentales,  nee  infrequenter  terras  demiffiores  aqua  inundabat, 
medium  iter  inftitueret  inter  colles  orientales  et  occidentales q. 

Verum  Memphios  fitum  et  rudera  fruftra  quasfiveris  in  ipfa  regione  : 
attentiori  vero  difquifitione  veteres  fcriptores  perfcrutatus  earn  collocave- 
rim  haud  procul  a  Mocanen  ;  in  eo  nomine  apparent  veftigia  nominis 
Moph,  quo  a  facris  fcriptoribus  indigitari  folet ;  hinc  auftrum  verfus  a  pla- 
nitie,  per  quam  itur  ad  Faiume,  adhuc  fuperfunt  tumuli  arenofi,  reliquiae, 
ni  fallor,  aggeris  fupra  memorati. 

Acanthum  Strabonis  collocavi  apud  Ofman,  nulla  habita  ratione  calculo-  Acanthus; 
rum  Ptolemasi,  qui  earn  Canthon  appellat  ■  conftituit  abeffe  decern  mille 
pafluum  intervallo  a  Memphi  verfus  auftrum. 

Tabula  Chryfanthina,  in  definiendo  urbium  fitum,  praecipuam  rationem  Bacchis, 
fimilitudinis  nominum  videtur  habuiffe,  e.  g.  Bxyx.1"  habet  pro  ipfa  Bacchi, 
eamque  collocat  ad  fofi'am  Jofephi  apud  Bahnefam  quadraginta  mille  paf- 
fuum intervallo  a  lacu  Mceri,  ad  cujus  ripam  earn  conftitifle  audtor  eft 
Ptolemaeus. 

Si  fimilitudinem  nominis  fequamur,  in  Sclinge  agnofcere  poffe  videmur  Selinon. 
Selinon;  quo  quidem  in  loco  rudera  quaedam  adhuc  fupereffe  dicuntur: 
Repugnare  tamen  videtur  intervallum,  quo  diftare  a  Panopoli  hodie  Ak- 
mim  dicitur  in  Itinerario. 

Regionem  iftam  urbis  Thebarum,  quas  dicebatur  Memnonium,  confti- 
tuerim  apud  Medinet  Abou,  qua;  quidem  vox  fonat  Civitas  Papa,  fevr  Pa- 
tris  (quo  nomine  forfan  Memnon  apud  vulgus  audiit ;)  hue  refer  urbem 
Papam  Itinerarii :  cumque  vox  Abba  feu  Abbou  a  primsevis  temporibus  fo- 
naverit  pater,  in  ea  quaefiverim  etymon  Abydi  urbis  cujufdam  Mediterranean 
prope  Ptolemain  palatio  peramplo  Memnonis  confpiciendam. 

E  tabula  Sicardiana  defumpfi  defcriptionem  foflas,  in  qua  occurrit  infula 
fatis  ampla  Edfou  ;  ea  itidem  duce  fignavi  intervallum,  quo  ea  infula 
diftat  ab  Ombo,  minus  forfan  quam  par  eft ;  cum  vero  mea;  obfervationes 
nihil  habeant  certi,  cui  fatis  poflum  fidere,  nil  mutandum  duxi. 

0  'Pa^'f  ^  ef!v  ^57s  r5  S^Mr'lZtt  Kj  IK%°J-  NhAs*     ti?  If  h,  \$  ij  aroAAai  i&p  Hvppp! Jef  Hffl.  Strabo. 

xsifiii'xsFee,        its  ^ri  T»  ars7«us  Tgo^o)  k,  xo^Ai'iW  id     1.  XVII.  C.  808,  809. 

tjlu^  utaywv.  Strab.  I.  xvii.  p.  S07.  5  "Efi      y  Me^lf  b/       yeyy  Is  'AiyuW  i&kv  § 

t:W  iVi  Ta  AiA7«  Tg/'^oivon  as  XUTt]1  ~   «,  Erjrtjijv,  ID  ^  TTca;  t-  tj'w  xutos  a  NhA@*  «7r£gyH. 

TeIju&mvIiX  S'  Stts  t  7Tfl'A£W5  7«I/vs  wdoea9o\7(s  ogHvij'     Herod.  1.  11.  c.  99. 


F  f  f  f 


Ad 


DISSERTATIO,  &c. 

Ad  mare  Erythraum  fignantur  duo  portus,  nomine  Coffeir,  neuter  qui- 
dem  ftationi  navium  fatis  tutus ;  ad  novum,  qua;  ad  auftrum  magis  ver- 
git,  ftatuerim  Berenicen  fuiffe  fitam:  Verfus  aquilonem  ulterius  naviganti 
fefe  offert  alius  perquam  commodus,  nomine  Hamrofie:  Nefcio  fane  quo- 
nam  intervallo  abfit  a  Coffeir,  ideoque  incertus  an  veteri  portui  Leuco 
five  Myo  refpondeat. 


FINIS. 


(  *95  ) 


INDEX. 


A A  RON,  htll  named  from  him,  and 
tradition  about  it,  147 
Abiram.    See  Datban. 
Aboukir,   or  Bikiere,  ir.    Remains  of 
aqueducts  there,  ibid.    Salt  lake,  ibid.  Sta- 
tue fuppofed  of  a  fphynx,  ibid. 
Aboufagat-Benifama,  72 
Abouftr,  a  confiderable  town,  22. 
Aboutig,  75.    Suppofedto  be  theHypfele  of  the 

antients,  ibid. 
Acacia-tree,  4.1,    Wood  of  them  at  Saccara,  49. 

Some  account  of  that  tree,  69,  r  54 
Acanthus,  69.    Temple  of  Ofiris  laid  to  have 

been  there,  ibid. 
Accabah,  the  antient  Elana,  137 
Achemfia  (Lake  of)  conjecture  about  it,  66 
Acbmed  Bedoui,  his  fepuichre,  and  opinion  about 

it,  17 
Adalia,  near  Cairo,  36 

Adjerotite,  132.    Caftle,  ibid.    Conjectured  to  be 

antient  Heroopolis,  ibid. 
^rtf(Turkifh)  185 
Aiaidi,  Arabs  fo  called,  137 
Akmim,  voyage  to  that  city,  69.  Conjectured 
to  be  the  fame  with  Panopolis,  76.  Situation, 
ibid.  Canal,  ibid.  Manufactures  of  old  and 
at  prefent,  ibid.  Prince  of,  his  origin,  ibid. 
Streets  and  houfes,  ibid.  Francifcan  convent, 
77.  Prince,  his  character,  ibid.  Suppofed  a 
fecret  favourer  of  Chriftianity,  ibid.  In  danger 
on  that  account,  ibid.  Ruins  of  an  antient 
temple,  ibid.  Infcnptions,  fculptures,  &c. 
ibid.  Other  ruins,  78.  .  Defcription,  and  con- 
jectures about  them,  ibid.  Mofques,  ibid. 
Convent  of  the  Martyrs,  ibid.  Another  called 
Dermadoud,  ibid.  Hermit's  cell,  ibid.  Fine 
water  of  the  well  called  Bir-EIaham,  the  only- 
water  in  Egypt  that  does  not  come  from  the 
Nile,  ibid.  Conjecture  about  thole  places,  ibid. 
Sepulchral  grottos,  and  paintings  in  them,  &c. 
ibid.  Other  antient  convents,  79.  Souadgy,  ibid. 
Lakes,  and  great  number  of  wild  fowl  in  them, 
ibid.  Convent  of  Embefhnuda,  ibid.  Antiquity, 
and  conjectures  about  it,  ibid.  Remains  of 
antiquity  there,  ibid.  Conjectured  to  be  the 
fituation  of  antient  Crocodilopolis,  ibid.  Churches 
of  the  convents,  ibid.  Convent  of  Der-Em- 
babfhai,  ibid.    Author  entertained  there  in  the 

church,  So.    ■  entertained  on  Chriftmas 

day  in  the  Turkifli  manner,  ibid.  Obferva- 
tions  on  fome  cuftoms  there,  87.  Author's 
departure  from  thence,  ibid. 

Ahmud-Bijige,  obelifk  fo  called,  57 

Alachia,  a  fruitful  ifland  in  the  Nile,  1 15 

AUBafetin,  near  Cairo,  25 

Alexander  the  Great,  city  of  Alexandria  built  by 
him,  2.    His  tomb,  4 
4 


Alexandria,  by  whom  built,  and  made  the  ca- 
pital of  Egypt,  2.    Its  greatnefs,  ibid.  Ports, 
ibid.    Pharos  or  light  houfe,  ibid.    Said  to 
have  been  once  warned  by  water  on  two  fides, 
3.    Walls,  ibid.    Towers  for  their  defence, 
ibid.    Great  remains  of  antiquity  to  be  feen 
there,  4.   Other  buildings  ftill  remaining,  con- 
jectured to  be  later  than  the  Ptolemies,  ibid. 
Palace,   ibid.    Tombs  of   the   Kings,  ibid. 
Market  place,  Rhacotis,  Bucolis,  5.  Caufey 
and  bridges,  ibid.    Weftern  port,  antiently 
Eunoftus,  ibid.    Canopus,  ibid.    Panium,  6. 
Great  ftreet,  Gymnafium,  ibid.    Porticos  of 
an  extraordinary  length,  ibid.    Forum,  ibid. 
Gate  of  Necropolis,  ibid.    Cifterns,  and  me- 
thod of  conveying  the  waters  of  the  Nile 
and  of  the  canal  of  Canopus   into  them, 
ibid.    Old  city,   now  intirely  demolilhed, 
ibid.   Mofques,  7.    Church  dedicated  to  St. 
Mark,  faid  to  have  flood  near  the  fpot  where 
he  fuffered,  ibid.   Mofque  of  St.  Athanafius, 
ibid.    Convents,  ibid.    Pretended  relicks  of  St. 
Mark  and  St.  Catharine,  ibid,   Copti  and  La- 
tin convent,  ibid.    Caftle,  ibid.    New  city,  its 
prefent  ftate,  and  caufes  of  its  decay,  ibid.  O- 
belifks,  ibid.    Theatre,  ibid.    Pompey's  pil- 
lar, defcription  of  it,  8.    Catacombs,  9.  Fof- 
fee  to  the  lake,  ibid.    Tapofins,  10.  Baher- 
Bellomah,  lake  Mareotis,  canal  of  Canopus, 
Hippodromus,  ibid.    Character  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, ibid.    Addicted  to  difiblute  diverfions, 
13.    Gardens  did  not  produce  the  olive  natu- 
rally, 57.   St.  Mark  faid  to  have  firft  preached 
the  gofpel  there,  and  to  have  been  the  firft  pa- 
triarch, 244 
Al-liarem-Baiamout,  pyrai  '.ids  fb  called,  57 
Al-Herem-Kieber,  another  fo  called,  70 
Allauni,  Arabs  fo  called,  138 
Amara,  ruins  of  antient  Tentyra,  85.    See  Ten- 
tyra.    Temple  and  its  meafures,  86.  Tradi- 
tion of  a  city  built  upon  the  roof  of  St,  ibid. 
Diverfe  noble  remains  of  antient  architecture, 
fculpture  and  hieroglyphics,   ibid.  Coloffal 
figures,  and  fphynxes,  87.    Charcoal  for  great 
part  of  Egypt  furnifhed  from  thence,  ibid. 
Amrab,  remarkable  mofque  of  that  name  at 
Cairo,  28 

Amrou-Ben-As,  Babylon  befiged  by  him,  26 
Antar  (King)  tower  of,  69.    Tradition  of  build- 
ings of  his  near  Babylon,  ibid. 
Antelope,  123 

Antinoopolis,  a  ruined  city,  now  Enfineh,  73, 
Built  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  in  honour  of 
Antinous,  ibid. 

Antirrhodes  (Ifle)  5.  Thought  to  have  been  over- 
flowed by  the  fea,  ibid. 

Antiquity  (Several  remains  of)  brought  from  Egypt, 
defcribed,  211.  &  feqq.  Conjectures  about 
lbme  of  them,  ibid, 

Antony, 


INDEX. 


AnttX),  the  Titnonium  at  Alexandria  built  by 
him,  5.  Overcome  by  Auguttus  at  Nicopo- 
lis,  1 1 

Antony  (St.)  convent  of,  70.  Pretended  relicks, 
and  traditions  of  him,  ibid.  Said  to  have 
founded  the  monadic  life,  ibid.    See  alfo  127. 

Axubis  worlhipped  at  Cynopolis,  71.  Conjecture 
of  the  reafon  why  his  ftarues  have  the  head  of 
a  Dog,  ibid.    See  Mythology^ 

Aphioum  or  Opium,  by  whom  much  ufed,  181. 

Aphroditopolis,  the  city  of  Venus,  in. 

Apis,  a  bull  fo  named,  worlhipped  at  Memphis, 
23,  41,  (Sc. 

Apollinopolis,  the  lefs,  now  Cous,  89 

Aquedutls,  at  Aboukir,  1 1 .  Magnificent  one  at 
Cairo,  27,  35.  Ruinous  one,  35. 

Arabia,  its  divifion,  136.   Foelix,  fituation 

and  extent,  ibid.  Petrea,  fituation  and  ex- 
tent, ibid.  Deferta,  fituation  and  extent, 

ibid.  Black  mountains  in  Arabia  Petnca,  Pto- 
lemy's account  of  them,  ibid.  Defcription  of 
Arabia  Petrasi,  ibid.  £5?  feqq.  Natural  hiftory, 
j  54.  Furnilhed  with  corn  from  Egypt,  204. 
Plants  of,  a  lift  of  them,  281,  6?  feqq. 

Arabic  (Gum)  whence  produced,  69 

Arabs,  their  genius,  10.  Exercifes  on  horfe- 
back,  57.  Under  no  government,  71.  In- 
ftances  of  their  avarice,  and  d.fpofition  to 
thefts  and  robberies,  72,  82,  139,  142,  159, 
(0c.  Exrraordinarv  inftance  of  fidelity  in  one, 
114.  Manner  of  life,  137,  177,  (Sc.  Po- 
verty, ibid.  Government,  ibid.  See  Sheiks. 
Honefty  to  one  another,  1 3  S .  Liberality,  ibid. 
One  a  protection  againft  all  the  reft,  ibid.  Me- 
thod of  getting  water,  139.  Manner  of  ma- 
king up  differences,  140.  Honefty  of  thofe 
■who  live  near  Tor,  141.  Divifion,  177, 
178.  Skill  in  managing  their  horfes and  pikes, 
(Sc.  ibid.  Of  an  inquifitive  difpofition,  181. 
Manner  of  falutation,  182.  Addrefs  very  ele- 
gant in  fome  refpects,  ibid.  Manner  of  eating, 
1  S3.  Hofpitality,  ibid.  Poverty  of  the  lower 
fort  of  people,  ibid. 

Arches,  great  number  in  the  aqueduct  at  Cairo, 
27.  Conjecture  about  the  invention  of  them, 
219,  fjff.    Very  rare  in  Egypt,  220 

Archemounain  (Village)  74.  Conjeflured  to  ftand 
on  the  ruins  of  Hermopolis,  ibid.  Temple, 
127 

Archimandrite,  natute  of  that  ecclefiaftical  digni- 
ty, 152 

Architecture  of  Egypt,  194-  That  and  the  ma- 
terials of  their  houfes  very  mean,  ibid.  Of 
the  Mamaluke  times  grand,  ibid.  Egyp- 
tian among  the  firft  efiays  of  that  art,  215. 
Greek,  little  of,  to  be  fecn  in  Egypt,  ibid. 
Gradual  improvement  in  it  to  be  obferved 
from  the  remains  of  antiquity,  ibid.  Conje- 
cture about  the  original  of  the  Corinthian  or- 
der, ibid.  Proportion  in  the  Egyptian  pillars 
not  cafily  fixed,  ibid.  See  alfo  216,  &  feqq. 
Roofs,  216.  Capitals,  217.  Entablature, 
218.  Cornices,  Doors,  219.  Sculpture,  ibid, 
(i  feqq.  Arch,  219,  220.  Private  buildings, 
ibid.     •  ' '  ,r 

Arafat  (Mount)  devotions  paid  there  by  the  pil- 
grims to  Mecca,  189 

Arfime,  55.  Suppofed  to  have  flood  where 
Faiume  does  now,  ibid.  See  Faitwie.  Said 
to  have  been  the  mod  beautiful  fpot  in  Egypt, 


^7.  Produced  the  olive  naturally,  ibid.  Py- 
ramids, ibid.  Called  the  city  of  Crocodiles, 
and  why,  59.  Strabo's  account  of  its  fitua- 
tion and  extent,  (Sc.  and  conjectures,  133. 
Account  of  the  antient  city  and  port,  (Sc .  ibid. 
Artois  (Earl  of )  drowned  near  Manfoura,  20 
Arts,  what  they  were  in  their  infancy,  and  their 
gradual  improvements,  how  to  be  judged  of, 
212 

Affes,  univerfally  ufed  in  Cairo,  207.  Number 

fuppofed  to  be  in  that  city,  ibid. 
Affouan,  a  fmall  town,  116.    Ruins  of  antient 

Syene,  ibid.    Hieroglyphics  on  the  rocks  there, 

119.    Accidents  that  happened  there,  ibid. 

Quarries  of  granite,  120.    Remains  of  a  wall, 

and  conjectures  about  it,  ibid. 
A/lronomy,  flourifhed  greatly  at  Thebes,  109 
Afychis  (King)  laborious  method  taken  by  him  to 

build  a  pyramid,  53 
Afylum,  of  Ofiris,  17 
Attakah  (Mount)  138 

Auguttus,  tomb  of  Alexander  viewed  by  him,  4. 

His  victory  over  Antony  at  Nicopolis,  1 1. 
Azabs,  military  body  fo  called,  164.  Have 

charge  of  the  country  round  Cairo,  165.  Their 

great  power,  ibid. 

B 

BAalbait,  18,  21.    Moft  magnificent  remains 
in  Egypt  there,  2 1 
Baalbeis,  fuppofed  the  fame  with  Themaic  and 

Heracleopolis,  20,  t6r 
Babel-Zuile,  one  of  the  gates  of  Cairo  fo  called, 
30.  Tradition  of  a  Sultan's  having  been  hang- 
ed under  it,  ibid. 
Babylon,  fuppofed  to  have  been  near  the  place 
where  Cairo  ftands  now,  25.     Befieged  by 
Amrou-Ben-As,  ibid. 
Bacchus,  how  he  came  to  be  worlhipped,  (Sc. 
223 

Baderijheeh,  56 

Bagnios,  at  Cairo,  36.    At  Arfinoe,  59 

Baharum  (Vale  of)  137 

Baheirah,  161 

Baher-Bellomah,  jo 

Bahr-Jofeph,  60,  64 

Baiamout.    See  Arjime. 

Bait-el-Pharaone.    See  Houft  of  Pharaoh. 

Balm  of  Gilead,  ttadition  about  ir,  245 

Balfam  Garden,  at  Heliopolis,  ibid. 

Barbara  (St.)  Pretended  relicks  of  her  at  Cairo, 

Bardis,  84 
Barcach,  valley,  158 

Barley  (Liquor  made  of)  by  whom  invented,  226 
Baths  of  Mofes,  14  r.    Suppofed  the  antient  E- 

lim,  ibid. 
Battle.    See  Benimfar. 
Bats,  of  an  extraordinary  fize,  210 
Bafetin,  gardens  of,  near  Cairo,  35 
Beccafigo,  bird  fo  called,  210 
Becmes,  what,  58 

Beer,  made  by  the  Turks,  1S2.  Mentioned  by 
Herodotus,  ibid. 

Bees,  ftrange  Method  of  managing  them,  210 

Benalhaffar,  ruins  of  a  city  there,  22.  Conje- 
ctured to  be  the  antient  Bubaftus,  Phibefeth  of 
the  Scripture,  ibid. 

Benefuief,  town,  70.    Manufacture  there,  71 

Bern- 


5 


INDEX. 


Bcni-Soliman,  people  fo  called,  137.   Their  Sheik 

fuperior  to  all  the  others,  ibid. 
Benimfar,  and  Shcik-Faddle,  battle  between  thofe 

villages,  127 
Beni/b  days,  what,  1S4 

Berangieb,  71-  Suppofed  the  fame  with  Cyno- 
polis,  ibid. 

Berber  ines,  a  people  from  Nubia,  at  Cairo,  38 
Be  fa,  y 3 

Btys  (Divan  of)  at  Cairo,  33,  etc.    Eight  affaf- 

fmated  at  once,  72.    See  Tunis. 
Bcze/fans,  what,  3  1 
Ei  ban-el- Meluke,  97 
Eibeb,  town,  71 

Bible,  manufcript  of  it  at  Cairo,  pretended  to 
have  been  written  by  Ezra,  and  it  range  tradi- 
tion about  it,  28 

Bijige,  obelifk  fo  called,  59 

Bikiere.    See  Aboukir. 

Biram,  Turkifli  fcaft  fo  called,  85 

Birds  (Catacombs  oh)    See  Catacombs. 

Bif-Elaham,  the  only  fpring  in  Egypt,  78 

Bir-el- Hammer,  159.  Dead  bodies  left  in  the 
road  there,  ibid. 

Bir-el-Suez,  well  ib  called,  132 

Birk-el  Garish  (Lake)  65 

Bifiopricks,  Egyptian  and  others  under  the  patri- 
arch of  Alexandria,  catalogue  of  them  from 
the  patriarch's  map,  279,  et  feqq. 
Bi/hops,  in  Egypt,  their  general  employment,  70 
Bitumen,  how  ufed  in  embalming,  etc.  232 
Blindnefs,  how  occafioned  in  Egypt,  195 
Boars  (Wild)  17 
Boats,  in  Egypt,  defcribed,  69 
Bolbitinum,  a  branch  of  the  Nile,  1 3 
Boltin^  fuppofed  to  be  the  old  Butus,  1 6 
Botargo,  what,  18 

Bouche,  probably  the  fame  with  Ptolemais,  70 

Bricks  (unburnr.)  manner  of  making  them,  53 

Bridges,  to  the  ifle  Pharos,  2.  At  the  port  of 
Alexandria,  5.  At  Metrahenny,  41.  At 
Saccara,  48.  At  Dafhour,  56.  At  Arfinoe, 
58,  59.    At  Sciout,  75.    At  Kept,  88 

Brulos,  a  lake  near  Rofetto,  16 

Bubaftic  branch  of  the  Nile,  the  fame  with  the 
Pelufiac,  18 

Bucolis,  5 

Buffaloes,  207 

Bulac,  port  of  Cairo,  28,  29.    Cuftom-houfe  and 

bagnio  there,  ibid. 
Burial-place  of  the  Kings  at  Alexandria,  4,  Of 

Ofiris,  17.    Of  Sheik  Duise,  near  Cairo,  36. 

Of  Keid  Bey,  etc.  ibid. 
Bujh  (Holy)  chapel  of,  150 
Bufiris,  18.    Conjecture  about  its  fituation,  21 
Bufiritic  Branch  of  the  Nile,  ibid. 
Bufiris  (King)  city  Thebes  faid  to  have  been 

built  by  him,  91 

C 

CADIS,  at  Cairo,  170.    Sent  yearly  from 
Conftantinople  only  to  certain  places,  ibid. 
Cadilijkier,  nature  of  his  office,  ibid.    Sends  Ca- 
dis to  moil  towns  in  Egypt,  ibid. 
Czfarium,  fuppofed  to  have  been  a  temple  to  Cse- 

far,  5. 
Caia,  what,  163,  165 
Caimacam,  nature  oi  his  Office,  166 
Cairo,  Embarkation  for  it,  16.    Arrival  there, 
17.    Suppofed  to  ftand  on  or  near  the  fite  oi 
Vol.  I. 


old  Bablyon,  25.  Caftle,  ibid.  Cafr  Kie- 
man,  ibid.  Confifts  of  three  cities,  ibid.  An 
tiently  called  Mefr,  25.  And  likewife  Foil- 
hath,  and  why,  26.  By  the  Arabs,  Caher, 
ibid.  Account  of  the  building  of  it,  by  the 
Arabic  Hiftorians,  ibid.  Kebafeh,  now  ruinous, 
ibid.  Roida,  ibid.  Jofeph's  Granaries,  ibid. 
Noble  aqueduct,  27.  Canal,  fuppofed  to  be 
that  of  Trajan,  ibid.  Annual  ceremony  of 
opening  the  canal,  ibid.  Tradition  of  their 
facrificing  a  virgin  every  year  to  the  Nile,  ibid. 
Pillar  of  earth  fet  up,  etc.  in  place  of  that  an- 
tient  ceremony,  ibid.    Copti  churches,  ibid. 

 of  St.  Barbara,  and  pretended  relicks  of  that 

Saint,  ibid.  — —  of  St.  Sergius,  ibid.  Tradi- 
tion of  the  holy  family's  having  been  in  it, 
ibid.  -  of  St.  George,  and  fuperftitious  tra- 
ditions about  it,  28.  Synagogue  of  great  an- 
tiquity, ibid.  Convent  of  Francifcan.s,  ibid. 
Remarkable  mofque  called  Amrah,  ibid.  Mofque 
of  Omar,  ibid,  ifle  Roida,  its  beauties,  ibid. 
Mikias,  or  houfe  in  which  is  the  pillar  for 
meafuring  the  riie  of  the  Nile,  ibid.  Cafia- 
raline,  gardens  there,  29.  Convent  of  Der- 
vifhes,  and  their  manner  of  life,  ibid.  Port, 
cuftom-houfe,  ware-houfes  and  bagnio,  ibid. 
New  Cairo,  ibid.  Walls,  now  ruinous,  ibid. 
Gates,  30.  Canal,  ibid.  Lakes  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  City,  ibid.  Beautiful  profpect  they 
yield  when  filled  by  the  Nile  and  covered  with 
boats,  and  after,  when  dry  and  covered  with 
growing  corn,  ibid.  Streets,  ibid.  Well 
watched  in  the  night,  31.  Bezeftans,  or  ex- 
changes, ibid.  Houfes,  their  outward  appear- 
ance mean,  ibid.  Mofques,  ibid.  of  Sul- 
tan Haffan,  a  magnificent  building,  ibid. 
of  Kubbe-el-Azab,  a  very  beautiful  one,  ibid. 
Tailoun,  32.  Antient  palace,  ibid.  Fountain 
of  Treafure,  or  of  Lovers,  ibid.  Mofque  re- 
iembling  that  at  Mecca,  ibid.  Caftle,  ibid. 
Jofeph's  hall,  33.  Prifon,  ibid.  Divan,  ibid. 
Mint,  ibid.  Jofeph's  well,  34.  Caraffa,  35. 
Tombs  there,  ibid.  Univerfity  conjectured, 
to  have  been  there,  ibid.  Ruins  of  convents, 
ibid.  Mofque  of  El-Imam-Shafei,  ibid.  Gar- 
dens of  Bafetin,  ibid.  Jews  burial-place,  ibid. 
Mount  Duise,  and  grottos,  36.  Mofque  of  Sheik 
1  Duise,  ibid.  Place  for  prayer,  ibid.  Burial-place, 
and  magnificent  tombs,  with  mofques  over 
them,  ibid.  Bagnios,  ibid.  Canes,  37.  Houfes, 
ibid.  Saloons  for  the  women,  and  their  con- 
finement at  Cairo,  ibid.  Magnificent  houfe 
faid  to  have  been  built  by  a  Sultan,  37,  Num- 
ber of  people  fuppofed  to  be  in  Cairo,  38. 
Inhabitants,  a  mixed  people  of  many  nations, 
ibid.  Trade  and  manufactures,  39.  Themoft 
confiderable  place  in  Egypt  for  trade,  ibid. 
Arrival  there  from  the  cataracts,  129.  - 

arrival  there  from  Mount  Sinai,   1 60.  . 

departure  thence  for  Rofetto,  ibid.  Cadis, 
170.    Kabani,  ibid.    Divifion  of  the  city, 
ibid.    Prophecy,  that  it  is  to  be  taken  by  a 
woman  on  horfeback,  192.    AfTes  univerfally 
ufed  there,  and  number  fuppofed  to  be  in  the 
city,  207. 
Calig-el-Eberam,  canal  fo  called,  56. 
Cambyfes,   Egypt  conquered  by  him,   1.  Hi's 
army  buried  in  the  fands,  in  their  expedition 
to  plunder  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon,  84, 
Camels,  their  manner  of  travelling,  feeding,  etc. 

131.  In  great  danger  if  they  fall,  141. 
G  g  g  g  Wonder- 


INDEX. 


wonderfully  fitted  for  travelling  in  deferts,207. 
Seldom  kill'd  for  food,  20S.  Method  of  pre- 
paring them  for  the  hot  feafon,  ibid. 

Campion,  one  of  the  Mamaluke  Kings,  faid  to 
have  ereifted  the  aqueduct  at  Cairo,  27 

Canals,  near  Foua,  16.  At  Manfoura,  20.  Of 
Thabanea,2i.  Of  theKings,  22.  AtCairo, 
27,  30,  etc.  Of  the  pyramids,  56.  Of  Ta- 
miea,  ibid.  At  Arfinoe,  5S.  Bahr  Jofeph, 
60,  64.  Of  Mceris,  64.  OfSciout,  75,  Of 
Akmim,  76.  Of  Kena,  87.  Of  Kept,  88. 
Of  Trajan  at  Suez,  133.  Intention  of  Sefo- 
flris  in  making  the  canals  of  Egypt,  197.  The 
great  advantage  Egypt  has  received  from  them, 
«49»  ^52 

Candia,  antiently  Crete,  160.    Embarkation  for 

it  from  Rofetto,  ibid.    See  Crete. 
Canes,  what,  37.    At  Cairo,  ibid.     At  BuJac, 

ibid. 

Cannon,  of  an  old  fafhion,  at  Rofetto,  15 

Canopic,  branch  of  the  Nile,  13,  16 

Canopus  fCana!  of)  4,  6,  10.    Whence  it  receives 

its  name,  13.    Pillars  for  directing  the  way 

near  it,  ib. 

Capitals  {'Egyptian _)  2 1 7,  2 1 8 .  Conjedure  about 
their  origin,  217 

Captan,  nature  of  that  office,  133 

Caraffa,  fuburbs  of  Cairo,  35 

Caravans,  55.  Author  travels  along  with  one, 
131,  &  feqq.  Manner  of  travelling,  ibid.  & 
fcqq.  In  danger  of  being  robbed,  ib.  Drefs, 
ceremonies,  etc.  of  the  pilgrims,  1S7.  Cara- 
van for  Mecca,  ibid.  See  Mecca.  Trade  car- 
ried on,  and  number  of  people  who  travel  in 
the  caravan,  ibid.  Proceffion  to  Mecca  de- 
fcribed,  261.  Rout  from  Cairo  to  Mecca, 
265 

Carnack,  part  of  antient  Thebes,  90.  See  Thebes. 
Ruins  of  a  magnificent  temple,  ib.  Encamp- 
ment of  the  Sheiks,  ib. 

Caroon  (Town  of)  61.  Conjecture  about  the  rife 
of  the  fable  of  Charon,  65.  King  of  that 
name,  ftrange  tradition  about  the  keys  of  his 
treafure,  ibid. 

Cajhifs,  and  Cafhiflics,  161 

Cafiotis,  136 

Caffius  (Mount)  18 

Cajiles,  at  Alexandria,  7.  At  Bikiere,  ir.  At 
Rofetto,  15.  At  Damiata,  19.  At  Cairo, 
,25,  32.  At  the  Labyrinth,  62.  At  Adje- 
route,  132.    OfShedur,  139.    At  Tor,  141, 

142 

Catacombs,  at  Alexandria,  9.  At  Saccara,  49. 
Of  the  birds,  ib.  Near  the  pyramid  of  fteps, 
53.  Defcription  and  meafurcs,  ib.  Or  the 
birds  defcr'ibed,  54 

Catarafts,  of  the  Nile,  121.  People  moftly  black 
there,  ib.  Appearance  of  thofe  parts,  ib.  Ca- 
taracts dcfcribed,  ib.  Author's  voyage  from 
thence  to  Damiata,  ib.  fcf  feqq. 

Cateia,  antient  name  of  Tailoun,  32 

Catharine  (St.)  7,  J44,  150-  convent  of.  See 
Sinai  (Mount.) 

Cats,  held  in  veneration  by  the  Turks,  209.  In 
antient  times,  death  to  kill  them,  ib. 

Caufey,  prodigious  one  made  for  bringing  the  Ma- 
terials for  building  the  pyramids,  42.  At  Sac- 
cara, 49 

Cephrenes,  faid  to  have  built  the  fecond  pyramid 
at  Gize,  45 

Ccrafies,  Vipers  fo  call'd  by  the  antients,  208. 


Cerejia,  73 

Chain,  faid  to  have  been  ftretched  acrofs  the  Nile 

to  flop  a  pafs,  1 14 
Champ/a,  antient  name  of  the  crocodile,  203. 
Chaoufes,  who,  1 66 
Charaims,  or  EfTenes,  who,  1 7  7 
Charon,  fable  of,  conjecture  about  its  rife,  65. 
Chemmes,  766 

Cheops,  King  of  Egypt,  faid  to  have  built  one  of 
the  pyramids,  42.  ■ —  daughter  faid  to  have 
proftituted  herfelf  by  his  command,  47, 

Chcrkes,  a  body  of  foldiers  fo  call'd,  32 

Chickens,  hatched  in  ovens  at  Cairo,  38.  Method 
defcribed,  268 

Chrijlians,  tumults  againfl  them,  how  occafioned, 
20.  Forces  defeated  at  Manfoura,  ib.  In 
Cairo,  27.  Village  of,  near  Anrinoopolis,  and 
fuperftitious  opinion  of  the  Mahometans  a- 
bout  it,  ib.  At  Manfalouth,  75:  At  Sciout, 
ib.  At  Akmim,  77.  Great  refort  to  Kept, 
in  times  of  perfecution,  88.  At  Nequade,  89. 
Patent  of  Mahomet  to  them,  268 

Cbrijlmas,  Copti  ceremonies  at  that  time,  80. 
Author's  entertainment  on  that  day,  ib. 

Cijlerns,  feen  under  water,  2.    Of  Alexandria,  G. 

Cleopatra,  24 

Cleopatris,  conjectures  about  its  fituation,  133, 
Climate,  of  Egypt.    See  Egypt. 
Clover,  in  Egypt,  fupplies  the  place  of  grafs, 
204. 

Clyfma,  138.    Conjecture  about  its  fituation,  ib. 

Cola,  60 

Codrickpan,  hills  fo  called,  73 

Coffin,  golden  one  of  Alexander  the  Great,  4.  Of 

the  mummies,  232.  Manner  of  painting  diem, 

etc.  ib.    See  Mummies. 
Coloquintida,  122 

Cokjfus,  in  the  lake  Mceris,  65.  AtAmara,  87. 
At  Carnack,  92,  93.  Near  Medinet  Habou, 
ioi.    At  Luxcrein,  107 

Com-Ombo,  the  antient  Ombos,  115.  Ruins, 
grand  gate,  etc.  ib.  Port  Lafherrad,  ib.  Ac- 
cidents there,  ib.  People  fubject  to  no  go- 
vernment, ib. 

Conful  (Englifh)  his  entrance  into  the  city  of 
Cairo,  17.  AtCairo,  no  Chriftians  but  con- 
fuls  allow'dto  ride  on  horfes,  191. 

Convents,  of  St.  Michael,  near  Cairo,  25.  Of 
Dervifhes  at  Cafiaraline,  29.  Or  Derviihes  at 
CarafFa,  35.  Of  Francifcans  at  Cairo,  38. 
Of  Francifcans  at  Fakinie,  58.  At  the  lake 
Mceris,  65.  At  Cafr  Caroon,  66.  Of  St.  An- 
thony, 70.  Of  St.  George  at  Bibeh,  71. 
At  Jebcl-Ockfeir,  73.  Obliged  to  entertain 
all  comers,  ib.  At  Antinoopolis,  ib.  At  Man- 
falouth, cut  out  of  the  rock,  75.  At  Akmim, 
77.  Of  the  martyrs,  78.  Of  Dermadoud, 
ib.  Others  near,  79.  Of  Ernbefhnuda,  ib. 
Of  Der-Embabfhai,  ib.  Of  Der-el-Hadid, 
and  Der-Embabfhag,  Si.  Of  Girge,  82.  Of 
Francifcans  there,  ib.  Of  Francifcans  at  Fur- 
Ihout,  84.  At  Cous,  91.  Of  the  Martyrs, 
112.  Of  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Paul,  128.  Of 
St.  Geminiani,  129.  Of  mount  Sinai,  at  Cairo, 
130.  Of  mount  Sinai,  at  Tor,  141.  Of 
mount  Sinai,  at  mount  Sinai,  143.  Of  the 
forty  martyrs,  144.  Great  convent  of  mount 
Sinai.    See  Sinai  (Mount.) 

Coptis,  17.  In  the  defens  of  St  'Macarius,  ib. 
Chriftians,  20.  Convents  near  Babylon,  25. 
Churches  in  old  Cairo,  27.    At  Faiume,  58. 

Great 


INDEX, 


299 


Great  numbers  at  Arfmoe,  59.  At  Akmim, 
77.  Ceremonies  at  Chriftmas,  80.  Firft  rife 
of  the  name,  88.  Very  ufeful  in  Egypt,  176". 
Their  wurfhip,  etc.  ib.  Peculiar  cuftom  with 
regard  to  their  children,  177.  Hatred  of  the 
Greeks  and  Europeans,  ib.  Inferiors  kept  in 
great  fubjection  by  fuperiors,  182.  Whence  fup- 
pofed  to  have  received  their  name,  244.  Their 
averfion  to  the  Franks  and  Greeks,  and  caufe 
of  it,  ib.  How  they  came  to  have  authority 
in  Egypt,  ib.  Patriarch,  how  eledted,  245. 
Their  ceremonies  refemble  thofe  of  the  Greek 
church,  ib.  Coptic,  the  antient  language  of 
Egypt,  and  how  it  came  to  be  corrupted,  ib. 
Priefts,  many  of  them  cannot  read  their  liturgy, 
ib.  Several  of  their  religious  ceremonies,  ib. 
&  feqq.  Practife  fafting  much,  256.  Times 
of  their  fafts,  ib.  Whimfical  method  of  ob- 
taining the  patriarch's  leave  to  eat  eggs  in  lent, 
246.  Marriages  and  divorce,  ib.  Confecra- 
tion  of  holy  oil,  ib.  Baptifm,  ib.  et  247.  Ce- 
remonies at  Chriftmas  defcribed,  ibid,  feqq. 

Coral,  135,  141,  142 

Corban-B'iram  (Feaft)  T89 

Corinthian  order  in  architecture,  conjecture  about 
its  original,  2  1 5 

Cornices,  in  the  Egyptian  architecture,  219. 

Coror.del,  1 37 

Cofmas  and  Damianus  (SS,)  149 
Cojfeir  (Port  of )  136 
Coum-el-Arab  (Hi!!)  71 
Coitphe  character,  the  antient  Arabic,  31 
d?ftj-(PortofJ  89.  Amiierable  town,  ib.  Antiently 
Little  Apollinopolis,  ib.    Remains  of  a  tem- 
ple there,  ib.    Church  and  convent,  ib. 
Crete  (Labyrinth  of)  61.    By  whom,  and  after 

what  model  laid  to  have  been  built,  ib. 
Crocodiles,  worfhipped  at  Arfinoe,  and  the  city 
call'd  The  city  of  crocodiles,  59.  Tombs  in 
the  Labyrinth,  61.  Seldom  go  below  the  con- 
vent of  St.  Anthony,  70.  Superftitious  man- 
ner of  accounting  for  that,  ib.  People  of  Ten- 
tyra,  enemies  and  deftroyers  of  them,  85.  City 
of,  conjectures  about  it,  112.  Very  nume- 
rous nearOmbus,  114.    Worfhipped  at  Om- 


bus, 


Tame  there,  ib.    Said  to  have 


no  tongue,  202.  Eggs,  and  manner  of  hatch- 
ing, 203.  Opinion  of  the  Ichneumon's  kil- 
ling them,  ib.  Account  of  their  manner  of 
catching  their  prey,  ib.  Method  of  killing 
them,  ib.  What  places  they  frequent,  ib. 
Agreement  between  the  antient  and  modern 
names  of  that  animal,  ib. 

Cvjloms  of  Egypt,  172,  el  feqq, 

Cyale  tree.    See  Acacia. 


DMT) ALUS.    See  Crete. 
Dahab,  conjectured  to  be  the  antient  Ezion- 
geber,  137 

Damiaia,  its  inhabitants,  etc.  18.  Road  for 
fhips,  19.  Situation,  ib.  Cuftom-houfe,  and 
tower,  ib.  Character  of  the  people,  ib.  A- 
verfion  to  Europeans,  and  caule,  ib.  Taken  by 
the  Chriftians,  ib.  Surrendred  to  the  Egyp- 
tian?, ib.  Danger  of  appearing  in  European 
drefs  there,  ib.  Inftance  of  the  villany  of  the 
inhabitants,  20.    Trade,  ib. 

Darius,  canal  of  the  King%  probably  carried  on 
by  him,  22 


Dafiiour,  49 

Date-tree,  196.  Notion  that  ropes  and  bafkets 
made  of  its  bark  and  leaves  do  not  communi- 
cate the  plague,  ib. 

Dathan  and  Abiram,  tradition  about  the  place 
where  they  were  fwallowed  up,  145 

Davara,  Pyramids  of,  66 

Delta,  one  of  the  divifions  of  Egypt,  1.  Adds 

a  great  beauty  to  the  profpect  from  Rofetto,  14 
Dembeh,  a  kind  of  hornet  fo  called,  158 
Dequahalie,  the  fame  with  Manfoura,  161 
Der-Abou-Ennis,  convent  fo  called,  75 
Dsrb-Ejenef,  Derb-Hajar,  etc.  roads  from  Cairo 

to  the  northern  coafts  of  the  Red  fea,  1 54 
DsrbAe-Jah,  road  fo  called,  and  why,  145 
Der-el-Hadid  (Convent  of)  81 
Der-el- Hammer ,  159.    Whimfical  piece  of  fuper- 

ftition  of  the  Mahometans  there,  ib. 
Der-Embabjhag  (Convent  of)  81 
Der-Embabjhai  (Convent  of)  79 
Dermadoud  (Convent  of)  cut  out  of  the  rock,  78. 

Water  of,  fuppofed  to  be  the  only  true  ipring 

in  Egypt,  198 
Dertin  (Village  of)  55 

Dervi/hes  (Convent  of)  at  Caflaraline,  29.  Their 

manner  of  life,  ib.    Dancing  ones,  ib.  et  178,. 

Distinctions,  drefs,  etc.  ib.    Regarded  for  their 

Poverty,  193 
Diana  (Oracle  of)  near  Rofetto,  16.  Antiently 

called  Bubaftis,  22.    Temple  at  Benalhafiar> 

ib. 

Diar-Frangi,  country  fo  called,  and  why,  142. 
Diodorus  Sicultts,  his  opinion  of  the  purpofe  for 

which  the  labyrinth  was  built,  61.  Accounc 

of  the  fepulchres  of  the  Kings  of  Thebes,  98. 

Of  Statues,  etc.  at  Luxerein,  107 
Diofpolis,  Eaft  part  of  Thebes  fo  called  in  the 

time  of  Strabo,  91 
Divan,  at  Cairo,  33.    Of  B;ys,  162 
Dogs,  worfhipped  at  Cynopolis,  and  why,  71 
Domes  (Itle  of)  84 
Dome  trees,  80 

Doors  in  the  Egyptian  architecture,  218 

Dragoman  Aga,  what,  165 

Ducks,  romantic  account  of  a  method  of  catch- 
ing them,  2  10 

Duisi  (Mount)  near  Cairo,  35.  Grottos,  ib.  Ex- 
tenfive  profpect  from  thence,  ib. 


EAG  L  E-flones,  17 
Earthen-ware  (Floats  of)  defcribed,  84,  87 
Eaftsm  branch  of  the  Nile,  1 8 
Ebadie  (Village  of)  73 
Education  (Egyptian)  180 

Egypt,  its  government,  1 .  Divifion,  ib.  Length, 
2.  Capital,  ib.  When  it  appears  in  its  great- 
eft  beauty,  16.  River  or  torrent  of,  18.  An- 
tiently called  Mefr,  25.  Architecture  irregu- 
lar, etc.  114.  See  Architecture.  Bounds  ac- 
cording to  Strabo  and  Ptolemy,  118.  Fewel 
burnt  by  the  common  people,  123.  Conje- 
ctures about  its  extent,  etc.  136.  Govern- 
ment, 161.  et  feqq.  Prefent  divifion  into  up- 
per, lower  and  middle  Egypt,  ib.  Sub-divi- 
fion  into  provinces,  ib.  Lower  Egypt,  its  ex- 
tent, ib.  Number  of  Sangialics  or  Cafhiflics 
in  it,  ib.  Middle  Egypt,  162.  Number  of 
provinces  in  it,  ib.  Upper  Egypt,  ib.  Num- 
ber of  provinces  formerly  faid  to  have  been  in 

it, 


INDEX. 


it,  ib,  Many  of  them  now  governed  by  A- 
rabs,  ib.  All  Egypt  governed  by  a  Pafha 
under  the  Grand  Signor,  ib.  All  the  Lands 
in  Egypt  originally  belonged  to  the  Grand  Sig- 
nor, ib.  Pafha's  Caia,  163.  Sheik  Bellet,  ib. 
Authority  in  Egypt  not  to  be  kept  without 
fuitable  conduct,  ib.  Sangiak  of  upper  Egypt, 
164,  Hiftorical  accounts  and  conjectures  a- 
bout  the  changes  in  the  conftitution  of  Egypt 
by  Sultan  Selim,  etc.  ib.  Millitary  bodies  not 
greatly  in  fubjection  to  the  Porte,  165.  E- 
rnir-Hadge,  ib.  Tefterdar,  ib.  Guards  of 
city  and  country,  ib.  Walla,  ib.  MetefTib, 
ib.  Government  of  villages,  1 66.  Caima- 
cam,  ib.  Military,  ib.  Spahis  or  horfe,  ib. 
Slaves,  167.  Infantry,  ib.  Janizaries,  ib.  et 
feqq.  Azabs,  162.  Great  authority  of  thefe 
two  bodies,  ib.  Different  caufes  of  tumults 
in  Egypt,  and  at  Con  flan  ti  nop]  e,  ib.  Egypt 
obliged  to  furnifh  the  Grand  Signor  with  three 
thouiand  foldiers  every  three  years,  170.  Ad- 
miniftration  of  juftice,  171,  et  feqq.  Cadi- 
lifkier,  ib.  Nakib,  ib.  Cadis  in  Cairo,  ib. 
Kabani,  ib.  Great  veneration  paid  to  thofe 
who  profefs  the  law,  ib.  Decifions  precarious, 
but  expeditious,  171.  Sheiks  of  Mofques,  ib. 
Relations  of  Mahomet,  their  privileges,  ib. 
Revenues  of  the  Grand  Signor,  ib.  et  feqq. 
Landed  intereff,  172.  Conjectures  about  the 
Conftitution  of  Egypt  in  former  times,  ib. 
Manner  of  buying  lands,  and  frauds  in  it,  ib. 
Lands  belonging  to  Mecca,  ib.  Cuftoms,  ib. 
et  feqq.  Poll-tax,  173.  Trade,  ib.  et  feqq. 
Export  and  import,  ib.  Manufactures,  174. 
That  of  linen  now  funk,  ib  Mechanic  arts 
chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Chriftians,  ib.  Egyp- 
tian pebbles,  how  wrought,  175.  Red  leather, 
ib.  Mechanic  artifts  in  Cairo  inferior  to  thofe  of 
Conffantinople,  ib.  Sal  Armoniac,  ib.  Money, 
ib.  Weights  and  meafures,  ib.  Caravans,  and 
their  trade,  ib.  See  Caravans.  Religion,  ib.  et 
feqq.  Coptis,  Greeks,  Armenians,  Jews,  177. 
Inhabitants,  ib.  Filaws,  ib.  Arabs,  ib.  E- 
gyptians  a  lazy  people,  ib.  Conjecture  about 
the  original  of  their  mythology,  ib.  Temper 
malicious  and  envious,  ib.  Sufpicious  of  tra- 
vellers, ib.  Turks,  who  fo  called  by  way  of 
diftinction,  178.  Dervifh.es,  ib.  See  Der~ 
•vijhes.  Policy  of  the  Egyptians,  ib.  Some 
inftances  of  it,  179,  180.  Education,  180.  Be- 
lief of  predefti nation,  and  its  effect  upon  their, 
conduct,  ib.  Avarice,  181,  Not  afraid  of 
the  Plague,  ib.  Devotion,  ib.  Pray  much 
in  public,  at  vifits,  etc.  ib.  Manners  and  cu- 
ftoms, ib.  Do  not  grieve  much  for  the  lofs  of 
relations,  ib.  Fond  of  their  children,  ib.  Ufe 
heating  things  to  chear  them,  ib.  Notion  of 
magic,  and  of  the  evil  eye,  ib.  Drefs,  189. 
et  feqq.  Conjecture  about  the  original  of  the 
furplice,  ib.  Papouches,  190.  Green  only  to 
be  worn  by  the  relations  of  Mahomet,  191. 
Drefs  of  the  women,  ib.  See  Women.  Coffee- 
houfes,  193.  Frugal  in  their  living,  ib.  Great 
men  extravagant  in  the  number  of  their  flaves 
and  horfes,  ib.  Horfes,  their  qualities,  ib. 
People,  not  well-favoured,  ftovenly,  fwarthy, 
etc.  ib.  Mamaluke  drefs,  ib.  Architecture, 
194.  See  Architecture.  Climate,  195.  Dan- 
ger of  catching  colds,  ib.  Rains,  at  what  fea- 
fons,  ib.  Thunders  and  earthquakes,  ib.  Su- 
perftitious  opinion  about  them,  ib.  Winds, 
3 


ib.  Duft  raifed  in  an  extraordinary  manner  by 
the  winds,  ib.  Difeafes,  196.  Strange  effect 
afcribed  to  frights,  ib.  Soil,  ib.  Petrifactions, 
ib.  Caufes  of  the  fruitfulnefs  of  Egypt,  ib. 
Antient  ftate  of  the  foil,  ib.  Water,  198. 
See  Water.  Nile.  See  Nile.  Method  of  wa- 
tering the  country  by  the  canals,  199.  A 
defcent  from  the  river,  ibid.  Not  practi- 
cable to  water  fome  parts  of  Egypt  by  labour, 
and  why,  200.  Management  of  the  canals, 
201.  Vegetables,  ib.  et  feqq.  Egypt,  of  old 
the  granary  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  now 
of  the  Turkifh,  204.  Clover  fown  infteadof 
grafs,  ib.  Two  harvefts  in  the  year,  ib.  The 
ieveral  forts  of  grain  produced  there,  ib.  Di- 
verfe  other  vegetables,  205.  Trees,  ib.  To 
be  queftioned,  if  there  are  any  of  the  natural 
growth  of  the  country,  ib.  Lift  of  trees  in 
Egpyt,  ib.  et  feqq.  Animals,  207,  et  feqq. 
Reptiles,  208.  Birds,  209,  et  feqq.  Manner 
of  fitting  upon  the  hams  in  Egypt,  211.  E- 
gyptians,  inventors  of  arts,  but  too  opi- 
nionative  to  learn  the  improvements  made 
in  them  by  the  Greeks,  etc.  212,  215.  An- 
tient weights,  214.  Antient  private  build- 
ings, 220.  Suppofed  to  have  been  very  mean, 
ib.  No  remains  of  them  to  be  feen  now,  ib. 
Mythology.  See  Mythology.  Hieroglyphics, 
See  Hieroglyphics  y  and  Writing.  Lower  E- 
gypt,  before  the  times  of  Menes,  fuppofed 
to  have  been  a  marfh,  till  drained  by  the  ca- 
nals, 249,  Soil  of,  conjectures  about  its  rife 
from  the  annual  inundation  of  the  Nile, 
250,  251.  Bifhoprics  of,  catalogue  of  them, 
279,  et.  feqq.  Plants  of,  lift  of  them,  281, 
et  feqq. 

Ein-Moufeh.    See  Springs  of  -Mofes. 

El-Berbi^  the  antient  Abydus,  83.  Temple  there 
entirely  demolifhed,  ib.  Once  the  fecond  city 
in  the  Thebaid,  ibid. 

Elecat,  a  people  fo  called,  137 

Elephantine  (Ifle  of)  2,  117.  Extent,  ib.  Tem- 
ple to  Cnuphis,  ib.  Remains  of  a  fmall  tem- 
ple there  ftill,  ib.  Statue,  ib.  Remains  of  a 
grand  gate,  and  a  great  wall,  118.  Room 
cut  out  of  one  ftone,  ib. 

Eleu/ist  11 

El-Fora(lac  (Canal  of)  160 
El-Gourney  (Village  of)  78 

Elias  (Vale  of)  146.  Chapel  dedicated  to  him, 
ib.    Grotto  in  it,  and  tradition  about  it,  ib. 

EUJba  (Chapel  dedicated  to)  146 

Elmenfhieh  Da/hour,  village,  49 

Eloua  (Province  of)  162.  Peculiar  law  there 
with  regard  to  ftrangers,  ib. 

Embalming  the  dead,  whence  fuppofed  to  have 
taken  rife,  226.  Three  different  manners  of 
it,  230,  et  feqq.  Antients  laid  to  have  pre- 
ferved  the  features,  etc.  by  this  art,  231.  Em- 
balming beafts  and  birds,  whence  that  cuftom 
fuppofed  to  have  taken  rife,  233.  See  Mum- 
mies. 

Embefhnuda  (Convent  of)  79 
Emeralds  (Mountain  of)  89 
Emir-Hadge>  his  office,  165 
Emperors  (Eaftern)  1 
Encampments  of  Arabian  governors,  75 
Englijh  fhips  employed  in  the  coffee  trade  of  Fe- 
feca,  134 

Entablature^  in  the  Egyptian  architecture,  218 
Epifteme  (Mount)  143.    Whence  fo  called,  147. 

Ruins 


i  n  r 

Ruins  of  a  nunnery  there,  ib.    Hill  Araone, 

and  tradition  about  it,  ib. 
Erment,  the  antient  Hermonthis,  no.  Temple 

of  Apollo  there,  ib.    Ruins,  ib.  Jebelin, 

ib.    Aphroditopolis,  ib. 
Efhbon,  22 

Efne,  a  confiderable  town,  in.  Conftitution  of 
that  town,  ib.  Temples,  ib.  et  feqq.  Con- 
jectures about  them,  ib.  Defcription  of  them, 
ib.  Suppofed  to  be  the  fame  with  Strabo's 
city  of  crocodiles,  112.  Convent  of  the  Mar- 
tyrs, ib.  Tombs,  ib.  Quarries  of  porphyry 
and  granite,  ib.  Remains  of  walls  near,  and 
conjectures  about  them,  113 

Efououd,  70 

Ejfenes,  or  Charaims,  who,  177 

Etfou,  great  Apollinopolis,  113.  Inhabitants  e- 
nemies  to  the  crocodile,  ib.  Temple,  ib.  Ac- 
cident that  happened  there,  ib. 

Ethiopia,  its  bounds,  11 8.  Mountains  of,  upon 
whatoccafion  forfaken  by  men  and  beafts,  199 

Eunojlus,  2 

Europeans,  their  manner  of  life  at  Cairo,  38 
Ezra,  a  manufcript  of  the  bible  faid  to  have 
been  written  by  .  him,  and  remarkable  tradi- 
tion about  it,  28 

F 

FAIUME,  fuppofed  to  ftand  upon  the  fite  of 
antient  Arfinoe,  55.  SztArfinoe.  Calhif  of, 
his  character,  ib.  Extent,  inhabitants,  manu- 
factures, etc.  58.  The  refidence  of  feveral 
Sheiks,  ib.  Convent  of  Francifcans,  ib.  Copti 
church,  ib.  Vineyards,  ib.  "Wine,  etc.  made 
there,  ib.  Rain  and  hail,  59.  Indifferent 
treatment  there,  ib. 
Fafara,  160.  Salt  lake  there,  ib. 
Fcft,  Ramefan,  72.     Falling  much  practifed 

by  the  Coptis,  346,  et  feqq. 
Feafi  (Turkifh)  called  Biram,  85 
Ferijee,  what,  189 
Fefeca  (Trade  of)  134 
Fetne,  a  very  fruitful  ifland,  71 
Figs  (Cape  of)  3 
Fila-ws,  who,  177 
Fire  (Ufe  of)  how  fir  ft  found,  223 
Firmans,  or  pafports,  copies  of  fome  from  the 

Grand  Signor,  1^0,  et  feqq. 
Fifh  of  the  Nile,  202.  None  of  the  European 
kinds  in  the  Nile,  befides  eels  and  mullet,  ib. 
No  fort  of  (hell-fifh  in  the  Nile,  ib.  See  Hip- 
popotamus. Names  of  diverfe  fifties,  ib.  La- 
tous,  conjectures  about  it,  ib.  Gurgur,  faid  to 
enter  the  mouth  of  the  crocodile,  and  to  kill 
him,  ib. 

Floats,  of  earthen  ware,  etc.  84,  121 
Foua,  1 6 

Fofthath,  antient  name  of  Cairo,  26 
Fountain  of  treafures  or  of  lovers,  at  Cairo,  32 
Francifcans  (Convents  of)   at  Cairo,   38.  At 

Faiume,  58.    Plundered  by  the  inhabitants, 

ib.    At  Akmin,   77.    At  Girge,   82.  At 

Furfhout,  84 
Franks,  ail  Europeans  fo  called  in  the  eaft,  55. 

Thought,  by  the  Egyptians,  to  be  very  wealthy, 

ib.    Notion  the  Arabs  have,  of  their  defign 

in  travelling  to  thofe  countries,  85 
French  fhips  employed  in  the  coffee  trade  from 

Fefeca  to  Gedda,  134. 
Furfljout,  Arrival  at  it,  84.    Poor  and  ruinous, 

Vol.  I. 


E  X. 

ib.  Place  of  refidence  of  a  great  Sheik, 
ib.  Francifcan  convent,  ib.  Converliitton 
with  the  Sheik,  85.  His  garden,  ib.  Re- 
ception by  him,  on  return  from  the  cataracts, 

124-  -  ,  ;- 

G. 

r^AH  (Hills  of)  137 
Galakiion,  147 

Galleys  on  the  Nile,  defcribed,  16 

Galofana,  ruins  vifible  under  water  there,  127 

Garbieh  (Province  of )  20,  161 

Gardens,  at  Caffaraline,  29.  At  Bafetin,  35.  Of 
Sciout,  75.    Of  the  Sheik  of  Furfhout,  85 

Gates,  beautiful  one  at  Antinoopolis,  73.  Grand 
oneatAmara,  86.  FTundred  gates  of  Thebes, 
91.  Ruinous  ones  there,  92,  et  feqq.  Near 
Medinet-Habou,  101.    At  Elephantine,  118 

Gaita-Kiebire,  fuppofed  the  fame  with  the  antient 
PafTalon,  76.    Ruins  of  a  temple  there,  ib. 

Gaza,  1 8 

Getieheieh,  137 

Geminiani  (St.)  convent  of,  much  reforted  to  by 

Chriftians,  129 
George  (St.)  church  of,  and  pretended  relicks  of 

that  faint,  28.    Convents  of  55,  71. 
Gerod  (village),  60 
Gewoubee  (Mount),  138 

Giants,  tradition  of  punifhments  inflicted  on  them 
by  Ofiris,  227 

Girge  (Bey  of)  1.  Town,  capital  of  Said,  or 
upper  Egypt,  82.  Convent  of,  ib.  Of  Fran- 
cifcans there,  ib.  Danger  they  live  in,  83. 
Mercenary  behaviour  of  a  Turk  there,  ib. 
Author's  reception  from  the  Bey,  on  his  return 
from  the  cataracts,  124 

Gize,  25.    Pyramids  of,  41.    See  Pyramids. 

Gods  (Egyptian)  hiftory  of,  222,  et  feqq.  See 
Mythology. 

Gold,  forbidden  to  be  worn  in  Egypt,  except  by 

the  Women,  208 
Gofoen  (Land  of)  conjecture,  that  it  was  the 

country  about  Heliopolis,  24.    Same  with  Ra- 

mefes,  ib. 

Goumenos,  nature  of  that  ecclefiaftical  dignity, 
152 

Gournoti,  part  of  Thebes  fo  called,  97 
Grain,  fundry  kinds  of,  in  Egypt,  204 
Granaries  (Jofeph's)  at  Cairo,  26.    In  upper  E- 

gypt,  204 
Grand  Signor.    See  Signor. 
Granite  mountains,  and  quarries,  137,  140. 
Grafs,  none  in  Egypt,  and  how  fupplied,  204 
Greeks,  at  Suez,  133.    At  Tor,  141 
Grottos,  near  Cairo,  36".    At  Metrahenny,  con- 
jectured to  have  been  fepulchres,  40.  Near 
Codrickfhan,  fuppofed  to  have  been  the  fame, 
73.    At  Archcmounain,   74.    Sepulchral,  at 
El-Gournou,  78.    Near  Menftiieh,  82.  Near 
Biban-el-Meluke,  97.    At  Jebel-Hamam-Pha- 
raone,  139.    At  Mount  Sinai,  146 
Groves,  20,  141 

H. 

T  ~\/ijar-Silcih\  ruins,  grottos,  etc.  there,  114. 
■LJ-  River  Nile  very  narrow  there,  ib.  Origi- 
nal of  the  name,  ib.    Accident  there,  ib. 
Hamatibihara,  1 54 

Hamrone  (Port  of)  136.  Conjectures  about  it,  ib. 
H  h  h  h  Hamfttn 


INDEX. 


Hamfeen  feafon,  what,  134.  winds,  159 

Harach,  or  poll-ax  in  Egypt,  137 
Haraminteleh,  ruins  there,  and  conjectures  about 
them,  131 

Harems,  or  women's  apartments,  183.    See  Wo- 
men. 
Harlots*  48,  67 

Harpocrates  (Statue  of)  brought  from  the  eaft,  de- 

fcribed,  213,  214 
Harvefis,  two  in  the  year  in  Egypt,  204 
Haffan  (Sultan)  mofque  of,  the  nobleft  inCairo,  3 1 
Hauhebi,  mountains,  154 
Haitm,  what,  204 

Hawks  (City  of)  113,124.  Ethiopian  tiered  one, 
120.  Kind  in  Egypt  not  ravenous,  209.  Held 
in  veneration  by  the  Turks,  ib.  Of  old,  death 
to  kill  them,  ib.  Fabulous  account  of  a  lega- 
cy left  for  their  fupport  in  Cairo,  ib.  Their 
bodies,  and  thofe  of  the  Ibis,  chiefly  found 
among  the  mummies  of  birds,  ib. 

Hebran,  fountain,  142 

Hele,  village  near  Cairo,  17 

Helena  (Sr.)  tower  built  by  her  on  Mount  Sinai, 
etc.  146  ,     '  . 

lleliopolis  (Antient  city)  now  Mararea,  23.  Sup- 
poled  to  be  the  On  of  the  fcriptures,  ib.  Sun 
worfhipped  there,  and  the  bull  Mnevis, 
Fabulous  account  of  its  foundation,  ib.  Friefts 
famous  for  their  learning,  ib.  College,  ib. 
Herodotus  inflructed  in  the  Egyptian  learning 
there,  ib.  Apartments  of  Plato  and  Eudoxus 
there,  fliewn  to  Strabo,  ib.  Learning  removed 
from  thence  before  Strabo*s  time,  ib.  Reafon- 
able  to  fuppofe,  that  the  country  about  it  is 
the  Gofhen  of  the  Scriptures,  24 

Heptanomis,  one  of  the  divifions  of  Egypt,  1 

Heracleopolis*  20 

Hercules^  conjecture  about  him,  71.  Inundation 
of  the  Nile  flopped  by  him,  and  fable  fuppoled 
to  have  taken  rife  from  thence,  225 

Heredy  (Serpent)  76.  Particular  account  of  it, 
and  of  the  fu  per  (lit  ions  relating  to  it,  125 

Hermits,  near  Akmim,  etc.  78 

Hcrmopolis,  16,  74.    Caflleof,  74 

Hermonthis .    See  Erment. 

Herodotus,  whtxe  inflructed  in  the  Egyptian  learn- 
ing, 23.  His  account  of  the  cauley  near  the 
Pyramids,  and  of  the  pyramids,  25.  Of  the  life 
for  which  the  labyrinth  was  built,  61.  Of  the 
pyramids,  etc.  near  it,  62.    Of  Akmim,  the 

antient  Panopolis,  76.   Of  the  rife  of  the 

Nile,  250 

Hieroglyphics,  21,  23,32,  91,  107.  Of  the  an- 
tient Egyptians,  account  of,  by  Diodorus  Si- 
cuhis,  228.  Conjectures  about  them,  ib. 
feqq.  To  be  fuppoled  that  Moil's  did  not  ute 
them,  ib.  Whether  they  may  be  fuppoled  to 
have  flood  for  words  or  tor  things,  ib.  &  feqq. 

Hills,  artificial,  at  Dafhour,  56.  Entirely  of  oy- 
fler-OieUs,  ib. 

Hippodromits,  10 

Hippopotamus,  fifh  fo  calPd,  202.  Accounts  of, 
and  conjectures,  ib.  Said  to  bleed  itfelf  for  its 
health,  ib.  Said  to  have  been  once  worfhip- 
ped in  Egypt,  ib. 

Hoar,  74. 

Holy  bujh  (Chapel  of  the)  143 

Holy  family,  tradition  about  them,  24.  Said  to 
have  been  in  a  church  at  Cairo,  27.  Said  to 
have  itaid  fome  time  atNarach,  75 

Horeb  (Mount)  143 
4 


Horfes,  no  Chriftian  allow'd  to  ride  on,  at  Cairo, 
except  the  confuls,  18.    Of  Egypt,  their  quali- 
ties, 193,  208 
Horus,  his  genealogy,  etc.  227 
Hou  (Town  of)  conjectured  to  be  the  fame  with 

little  Diofpolis  of  Ptolemy,  85 
Houfe  of  Pharaoh,  hill  fo  called,  140 
Honfcs  in  Cairo,  31.    Of  the  great  men,  3  7 
Hypfele,  of  the  antients,  conjecture  about  it,  75 

I. 

J MI,  (Vale  of)  See  Sinai  (Mount.) 
Janitzar  Ago..  See  Janizaries. 
Janizaries,  9.  Are  the  guards  of  the  city  of 
Cairo,  165.  Full  account  of  them,  167,  et 
feqq.  Degrees  of  fuperiority  among  them,  ib. 
Janitzar  Aga,  or  general,  his  office,  168. 
Their  great  power,  169.  Manner  of  depofing 
the  Pafhas,  ib.  In  Conltantinople  have  no 
Divan,  170.  At  Cairo  extremely  infolent,  ib. 
Manner  of  exprelling  their  dilTatis  fact  ion,  184 
Ibis  (Bird)  held  in  great  veneration  by  the  E- 
gyptians,  and  why,  209.  Its  body,  and  that 
of  the  hawk  chiefly  found  among  the  embalm- 
ed birds,  ib.    Mummy  of  one  defcribed,  ib.  et 

fm- 

Jchneumon,  laid  to  deftroy  the  crocodile,  202. 

Conjectures  about  it,  207 
Jebel-Duife,  32 
Jebele,  137 

Jebele, or  mountain,  Garib,  142.  — Hamam-Pha- 
raone,  139.  ■ — Le  Marah,  ib.  Salt  fpring 
there,  ib.  Conjecture  about  it,  ib.  —  Le  Sany, 
hills  fo  called,  1 58.  — Macatham,  131. — Me- 
feca,  142.  > — Mofes,  mount  Sinai  fo  called  by 
the  Arabs,  143.  — Moflneum,  hill  fo  called, 
and  whence,  142.  — Ockfeu-,73.  — Te,i37, 
159.    — Zeit,  142.  Healing  waters  there,  ib. 

Jcdda,  134 

Jehtfi,  Mount)  near  old  Cairo,  2  5 

Jemen,  the  antient  name  of  Arabia  Foclix,  134 

Jcrdacn,  animal  fo  called,  thought  by  the  author 
to  be  the  Ichneumon,  132.    See  alio  207 

Jeremiah,  the  prophet,  tradition  of  his  having 
been  in  a  fynagogue  at  Cairo,  27 

Jerufalem,  departure  from  Cairo  to  go  thither,  129 

Jews,  great  number  of  them  in  Alexandria,  2. 
Their  burial-place  at  Cairo,  35.  Manner  of 
burying  their  dead,  ib.  in  Egypt,  An- 
gular cuftom  among  them,  177.  Synagogues 
in  Cairo,  ib.    Diltinct  feet  among  them,  ib. 

Il-Hcrem-el-Kebcre-el-Barieh,  great  pyramid  at 
-  Saccara  fo  called,  51 

Il-Hercm-il-Kieber-el-Koubli,  name  of  another  py- 
ramid, 52 

Jonas,  feaft  of,  and  feverc  fait  before  it,  246 

Indigo,  method  of  making  it,  204 

Infcriptions,  at  Elephantine,  118.  Upon  the 
rocks  in  the  way  to  mount  Sinai,  142.  Upon 
mount  Sinai,  146.  Upon  the  obelifk  at  Con- 
ltantinople, 229.  Copies  offoine  Greek  ones 
found  in  Egypt,  275,  et  feqq. 

John  (St.)  convent  of,  73 

  the  Baptift,  chapel  of,  145 

  Climax,  prifon  of,  149 

Jofeph*s  granaries  at  Cairo,  26.  —  —  hnll 
there,  and  delightful  profpect  from  thence,  32, 

33.    faid  to  have  been  impiifoned  in  the 

jail  at  Cairo,  ib,    well,  34,  198 

Ifis,  temple  of,  at  Baal-bait,  21.    At  TeDtyra, 


INDEX. 


86.  Place  named  from  her  cutting  off  a  lock 
of  her  hair,  upon  hearing  of  the  death  of  Ofi- 
ris, 87.  Statue  of,  brought  from  Egypt,  de- 
fcribed,  211,  212.  Bull  of,  defcribed,  213. 
Proceedings  upon  the  death  of  Ofiris,  226. 
Prudent  behaviour  after  his  death,  and  honours 
the  queens  of  Egypt,  and  her  fex  in  general, 
received  on  her  account,  227.  Where  buried, 
ib. 

Ifrael  (Children  of)  fome  account  of  their  jour- 
ney out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  conjectures 
about  the  places  they  palled,  154,  et  feqq. 

Jupiter  Amnion,  his  oracle,  2.  Army  of  Camby- 
fes  buried  in  the  fands,  in  their  expedition  to 
plunder  his  temple,  84. 

K. 

KABANI,  nature  of  his  office,  170 
Kalat-eUKebfh,  palace  in  Cairo  fo  called,  32 
Kalkafendas,  extracts  from  his  account  of  the  rife 

of  the  Nile,  252,  et  feqq. 
Kalioub,  province  of,  161 

Kebafeh,  between  old  and  new  Cairo,  now  ruin- 
ous, 25 

Keid-Bey,  burial-place  of,   near  Cairo,  36,  154 

Kena,  fuppofed  the  fame  with  antient  Cosne  or 
Neapolis,  87.  Canal,  ib.  Manufacture  of 
earthen  ware,  ib. 

Kept,  the  antient  Coptos,  87.  Whence  fo  cal- 
led, ib.  By  whom  inhabited,  ib.  Trade  ib. 
Situation  according  to  the  antients,  and  con- 
jectures, etc.  ib.  et  88.  Historical  account 
of  the  Trade  there,  ib.  The  refort  of  the 
Christians  in  time  of  perfecution,  ib.  Destroy- 
ed by  Dioclefian,  and  why,  ib.  Remains  of 
antiquity  there,  ib.  Lake  and  canal,  ib.  Bridges, 
farcophagufes,  medals,  statues  of  earthen  ware, 
rock  crystal,  precious  stones,  root  or  refufe  of 
the  emerald,  etc.  89 

Keys,  of  the  treasures  of  king  Caroon,  strange  tra- 
dition about  them,  65 

Kings,  canal  of,  by  whom  probably  begun  and 
carried  on,  22.  Twelve  kings  of  Egypt,  the 
labyrinth  fuppofed  to  have  been  built  for  them 
to  meet  in,  61 

KifUr-Aga,  his  office,  172 

Ktcube  d-Mcnflmh,  pyiamid  fo  called,  53 

Kubbe-el-Azab,  beautiful  mofque  at  Cairo,  fo  cal- 
led, 3  1 

L. 

LAbyrinth,  6t.  Temple  or,  ib.  Ruins  there, 
ib.  Ufe  it  was  built  for,  and  by  whom,  ib. 
Opinions  of  Diodorus,  Strabo,  and  Pomponius 
Mela,  ib.  Three  thoufand  rooms  univerfally 
agreed  to  have  been  in  it,  ib.  Daedalus  faid  to 
have  built  that  or  Crete  after  its  model,  ib. 
Tombs  of  the  kings  in  it,  ib.  No  perfon  al- 
lowed to  enter  the  apartment  where  they  were, 
ib.  Tombs  of  the  crocodiles  in  it,  ib.  Lake 
near  it,  ib.  Several  buildings,  etc.  near  it  de- 
fcribed, 62.  Accounts  of  the  antients  of  py- 
ramids near  it,  ib.  Defcriprion,  meafur.-5, 
conjectures,  etc.  ib.  et  feqq. 
Lacfor.  See  Luxereia. 
Lmfr,  (Hill)  158 

Lakes,  fait  one  at  Aboukir,  ir.  Brulos,  16. 
Beautiful  ones  in  the  city  of  Cairo,  30.  Near 
Metrahenny,  and  conjectures  about  them,  40. 
Of  the  labyrinth,  61,  Of  Sciout,  75.  Of 
Oafis,  84.  At  Kept,  88.  Of  the  Pilgrims, 
132.    Of  Suez,  134 


Lares t  213 

Lafierrad,  port  of,  115 
Laticbea,  20 

Latomia,  (Ifle)  15.    Is  divided  into  two  iflanda 

when  the  north-weft  wind  blows,  ib. 
Latopolis,  111 

Lotus  (Fifh)  where worfhipped,  in,  202 
Laws,  faid  to  have  been  delivered  by  the  kings  of 
Egypt  from  a  pyramid  at  Saccara,  50.  Great 
refpect  paid  to  people  of  that  profelfion  in  E- 
gypt,  170 
Leontopolis,  now  Onias,  22 
Letters,  copies  of  fome  in  the  eastern  ftyle,  272, 
etfeqq. 

Lewis,  the  ninth  of  France,  faid  to  have  built  a 
castle  near  Damiata,  19.    Made  prifoner,  and 
how  ranfomed,  ib. 
Linen,  of  Egypt,  manufacture  of,  now  funk,  174 

Lochias,  2 

Lower  Egypt.    See  Egpyt. 

Luxerein,  or  Lacfor,  106.  Temple  there,^.  Sepul- 
chre ofOfymanduas,  ib.  Statues,  ib.  Obeliiks, 
hieroglyphics,  fculptures  and  conjectures  about 
them,  ib.  ColofTal  statues,  ib.  Infcriptions 
upon  one  of  them,  108.  Library  and  Infcrip- 
tions, etc.  ib. 

M. 

Jy^^ramw,  (St.)  deftrt  of,  17.     Church  of,. 

Macedon,  the  companion  of  Ofiris,  tradition  a- 

bout  him,  71 
Madnefs,  superstitious  notion,  about  a  cure  for  it, 
27.    Mad  people  held  in  great  veneration  by 
the  Mahometans,  193 
Madreporte,  what,  135,  141 
Mahalla,  port  of,  near  Manfoura,  20.  Capital 

of  the  province  Garbieh,  ib. 
Maharojhy,  whimfical  utenfil  fo  called,  197 
Mahomet,  his  relations  buried  near  Cairo,  36. 
Print  of  his  foot  faid  to  be  at  the  mofque  Saro- 
nebi,  55.  The  fame  pretended  to  be  at  a 
mofque  near  Damafcus,  ib.  Abfurd  tradition 
about  his  camel,  146.  Stone  where  he  is  faid 
to  have  fat,  148.  Traditions  about  his  birth, 
etc.  ib.  His  relations,  their  privileges,  tfi. 
None  but  they  allowed  to  wear  green,  191. 
Copy  of  his  patent  to  the  monks  of  mount  Si- 
nai, and  to  all  Christians  in  general,  268  et  feqq. 
Mahometans,  their  religion,  not  inclining  to  idola- 
try, 126.  Men  prohibited  to  wear  ornaments 
of  gold,  but  on  certain  conditions,  174.  Me- 
thod of  evading  that  law,  ib.  Meanest  of 
them  think  themfelves  fuperior  to  any  Chri- 
stian, 181.  Uery  unmannerly,  ib.  Fast  cal- 
led Ramefan.  See  Ramefan.  White  their 
proper  drefs,  191.  Veneration  for  mad  peo- 
ple, 193. 
Malakas,  what,  59 

Mallei,  an  abstract  from  his  account  of  the  pyra- 
mids, 234 

Mamelukes ,  their  government  in  Egypt,  1.  Tow- 
er near  Damiata  fuppofed  to  have  been  huilt 
by  them,  19.  At  Cairo,  3S.  Their  drefs, 
193.  Architecture  of  their  times  in  Egypt, 
good,  194 

Alanfaloutb,  74.  Ruins  there,  ib.  Suppofcd  to 
be  the  lame  with  Lycopolis  of  the  antients,  75. 
Defcripfion  of  it,  ib.  Tradition  that  the  Holy- 
family  itaid  fbmetime  there,  jb. 

Man- 


I     N  D 

Manfourah*  iS.  Conjectured  to  be  the  fame 
with  antient  Tanis,  the  Zoan  of  Scripture,  20. 
Holy  war  there,  ib.  Beauty  of  the  place,  ib. 
Called  alfo  Dequahalie,  161 

Manfunab,  a  fruitful  ifle  in  the  Nile,  115 

Manufactures*  at  Benefuief,  71.  At  Akmim,  76. 
Of  earthen  ware  at  Kena,  87.  Of  Egypt  in 
general,  173 

Manufcripts,  antientone  of  the  law  at  Cairo,  28. 
Of  the  bible,  faid  to  have  been  written  by  Ez- 
ra, and  ftrange  tradition  about  it,  ib. 

Maps,  of  Egypt  very  incorrect,  1 5 

Mareotis  (Lake)  3,  10 

Mark  (St.)  church  dedicated  to  him,  etc.  7.  Said 
to  have  firft  preached  the  gofpel  at  Alexandria, 
and  to  have  been  the  firft  patriarch  of  that  place, 

244-  ■ 
Mary  (St.)  convent  of,  149 
Mahalla*  18 

Matarea,  village,  remarkable  for  excellent  wa- 
ter, 23.  Tradition  about  the  Holy  family 
there,  ib. 

Mecca*  hangings  made  for  it  at  Cairo,  32.  Not 
to  be  touched  by  a  Chriftian,  ib.  Pilgrims  for, 
their  place  of  meeting,  134.  Lands  belong- 
ing to,  172.  Proceflion  of  the  hangings,  etc. 
187,  et feqq.  Reckoned  an  indifputable  duty 
to  go  thither,  188.  Obfervation  concerning 
thofe  who  have  made  the  pilgrimage  thither, 
ib.  Caravan  for,  proceffion  of,  defcribed,  261. 
Rout  from  Cairo  to  Mecca,  268,  et  feqq. 

Medals,  people  fearch  for  them  in  the  lands  at 
Arfinoe,  58. 

Medinet-Habou*  fuppofed  to  Hand  upon  the,  fite 
of  the  antient  Memnonium,  97. 

Meidans*  what,  184 

Melgah*  (Vale  of)  144,  149 

Meloui*  town,  73.  Great  quantity  of  corn  fur- 
nifhed  from  thence  annually,  74 

Memnon*  his  famous  palace  at  Abydus,  83. 
Temple  at  Thebes,  91.  Statues  defcribed, 
and  meafures,  101.  Infult  when  copying 
the  inferiptions,  102,  105.  Wonderful  found 
faid  to  have  proceeded  from  his  ftatue,  ib. 
Accounts  of  him  and  it  by  the  antients,  and 
conjectures,  103,  et  feqq. 

Memnonium*  at  Thebes,  9 1 .    See  Medinet-Habou. 

Memphis*  39.  Its  fituation  uncertain,  ib.  Ma- 
terials of  it  probably  carried  to  Alexandria,  ib. 
No  ruins  of  it  feen,  all  overflowed  by  the  Nile, 
ib.  Conjectures  about  its  diftance  from  the 
pyramids,  etc.  40.  Grottos,  conjectured  to 
have  been  fepulchres,  ib.  Bank,  conjectured 
to  have  been  the  antient  rampart,  ib.  Lakes, 
ib.  Thought  to  have  been  built  by  Menes  firft 
king  of  Egypt,  ib.  Palace  of  the  kings  there, 
4r.  Extent  of  the  city,  ib.  "Worfhip  of  Ofi- 
ris  there,  ib.  Temples  to  Vulcan,  and  to  Ve- 
nus, ib.  Molt  remarkable  pyramids  near  it, 
taken  notice  of  by  the  antients,  ib.  Remains 
of  a  mound,  thought  to  have  been  part  of  the 
antient  rampart,  56, 

Mendes,  or  Imandes,  the  labyrinth  fuppofed,  by 
Diodorus,  to  have  been  built  for  his  fepulchre, 
61 

Mendefian*  branch  of  the  Nile,  19 

Menelaus  and  Helen,  faid  to  have  been  entertained 
by  kingThonis,  12.    His  pilot  Canopns,  ib. 

Menes*  firft  king  of  Egypt,  40.  Courfe  of  the 
Nile  turned,  and  the  city  Memphis  faid  to 
have  been  built  by  him,  ib.    City  Arfinoe  faid 


E  X. 

to  have  been  built  by  him,  and  called  The  city 

of  crocodiles,  59.    Divine  honours  militated 

by  him  to  that  animal,  and  tradition  of  the 

reafon  why  he  did  fo,  ib. 
Menetfah*  (Valley  of)  140 
Menouf*  city,  160 
Menoufieh*  (Province  of)  161 
Menfhich,  old  Ptolemais,  82.    Said  by  Strabo  to 

have  been  the  greateft  city  in  the  Thebaid,  ib. 

Ruins  near  it,  ib.    Fofie  round  the  town,  lake, 

grottos,  etc.  ib. 
Menfhieh  Daflmir*  village,  53 
Menzale,  (Lake)  18,  19,  20 
Merify  winds,  134 

Mefr*  antient  name  of  Cairo,  and  of  Egypt  in 
general,  26 

Meteffib*  nature  of  his  office,  165 

Metrahenny*  40.  Suppofed  to  be  near  the  fitua- 
tion of  old  Memphis,  ib.  Grottos  and  bank 
there,  conjectures  about  them,  ib.  Bridge,  41. 
Antient  bed  of  the  Nile,  ib. 

Michael*  (St.)  river  Nile  begins  to  rife  upon  his 
day,  and  accounted  a  miracle,  200 

Middle  Egypt.    See  Egypt. 

Migdol*  1 8 .  Famous  for  the  defeat  of  the  Sy- 
rians, ib. 

Mikias,  the  houfe  in  which  is  the  pillar  for  mea- 
furing  the  rife  of  the  Nile,  28.  Obfervations 
made  in  it,  256.  None  but  the  Pallia,  or  one 
from  him,  allowed  to  enter  it  while  the  river  is 
rifing,  258 

Mikra*  what,  177 

Milefians*  conjecture  about  them,  14 

Minio,  73 

Minos*  king  of  Crete,  his  labyrinth  built  fromi 

the  model  of  that  of  Egypt,  61 
Mint*  at  Cairo,  8 
Mifenides,  a  people  fo  called,  137 
Mnevis,  bull  fo  named,  worfhipped  at  Heliopo- 

lis,  23 

Maris*  (Lake)  17,56,63.  Its  extent  according 
to  Herodotus,  Diodorus,  and  Pomponius  Mela, 
63.  Account  of  the  cutting  of  it,  and  by 
whom  it  was  made,  64.  Conjectures  about 
the  ufe  it  was  intended  for,  ib.  Defcribed,  65. 
Water  very  fait,  ib. 

Molottos*  at  Cairo,  38.  At  the  cataracts  almoft 
all  the  people  fo,  121 

Mofes*  where  faid  to  have  been  found  by  Pha- 
raoh's daughter,  29.    See  Sinai  (Mount.) 

Mofques,  at  Alexandria,  7.  Remarkable  one  at 
Cairo,  called  Amrah,  28.  Of  Omar,  ib.  Mag- 
nificent one  of  Sultan  Haflan,  31.  Beautiful 
one  called  Kubbe-el-Azab,  ib.  Another  re- 
fembling  that  of  Mecca,  32.  OfEl-Imam- 
Shafei,  ib.  Of  Sheik  Duife,  36.  One  near 
mount  Duife,  ib.  OfSaronebi,  whence  fo  cal- 
led, 55.  At  Akmin,  78.  On  mount  Sinai,  146 

Motrody,  22 

Muellah*  131 

Mummies,  at  Saccara,  defcribed,  54.  Suppofed 
to  be  all  of  female  bodies,  and  reafon  for  that 
opinion,  227.  Thofe  now  remaining  afford 
none  of  the  drug  antiently  made  from  mum- 
mies, 231.  Some  brought  from  Egypt  de- 
fcribed, 232.  Of  an  Ibis  defcribed,  233.  See 
Catacombs*  Embalming,  Coffins*  etc. 

Mitnna,  feaft  kept  there  by  the  pilgrims  for  Mec- 
ca, 189 

Mufe*  town,  conjecture  about  it,  71 
Mufeum*  in  the  palace  at  Alexandria,  4 

Muffulmen, 


INDEX. 


Mujfulmen,  con feienticms,  offence  nor  to  be  given 
them,  17.    See  Turks  and  Mahometans. 

Muftabait-d-Pbaraone,  pyramid  near  Saccara  fo 
called,  50.    Tradition  about  it,  ib. 

Muteferrika,  who,  166 

Mycerinns,  the  third  pyramid  of  Gize  faid  .to 

have  been  built  by  him,  47 
Myris,  (King)  lake  Meeris  laid  to  have  been  cut 

by  him,  64 

Mythology,  (Egyptian)  conjecture  about  its  rife, 
177.  In  great  meafure  the  foundation  ot  the 
heathen  religions,  221.  Erroneous  explana- 
tions of  it,  how  oceafioned,  222.  Genealogy 
of  the  gods,  according  to  the  antients,  intricate 
and  ambiguous,  ib.  Accounts  of  Herodotus 
and  Diodorus  Siculus,  ib.  Gods  of  Egypt  to 
be  fuppofed  no  other  than  men  deified  for  their 
wifdom  and  beneficence,  223.  ThcfameDei- 
ty  often  worfliipped  under  feveral  names  and 
fhapes,  ib.  Hiftory  of  ibme  of  the  Egyptian 
gods,  ib.  et  feqq.  Fables  relating  to  the  birth 
of  leveral  of  them  on  what  founded,  226 

N. 

NABAH,  Nabate,  ot  Nouebeh,  conjectures 
about  thefe  names,  13S 
Nabock,  fruit  fo  called,  122 
Nach  el-Tor,  grove  ib  named,  141 
Nackele,   port,  75 

Naked  faints,  who,  14.     Superftitious  veneration 

paid  them,  ib. 
Nakib,  170 

Nafr-Iben-Calahoun,  (Sultanj  magnificent  houfe 

at  Cairo,  faid  to  have  been  built  by  him,  37 
Natron,  lakes,  17 
Naucratis,  14,  16 

Neckib-el-Efheraf,  head  of  the  relations  of  Maho- 
met, 1  7 1 

Neco,  king  of  Egypt,  the  Syrians  defeated  by 
him,  18.  Probable  that  the  canal  of  the  kings 
was  carried  on  by  him,  22 

Necropolis,  at  Alexandria,  6 

Negeb-Houah,  (Vale  of)  142 

Neptunium,  temple  to  Neptune,  at  Alexandria,  5 

Ncquade,  a  bifnop's  fee,  S2.    Monattery,  ib. 

NeJIe,  village,  60.    Ruined  cattle  there,  ib, 

Nicopolis,  1 1 .  Aqueduct  there,  ib.  Theatre, 
ib.  Victory  gamed  there  by  Auguftus  over 
Anthony,  1 1 

Nil,  herb  lb  called,  how  ufed,  204 

Nile,  (River)  great  difficulty  of  fettling  the  geo- 
graphy of  itsantient  branches,  15.  Sailing  on 
it  very  pleufunt,  from  the  beauty  of  its  banks, 
etc.  16.  Eaftern  branch,  18.  Pelufiac  or  Bu- 
bafttc  branch,  18,  20.  Mud  how  far  out  at 
fea  to  be  found,  19.  Mendefian  branch,  21. 
Phatnitic  branch,  ib.  Bufiritic  branch,  ib. 
Water  raifed  by  oxen  at  Cairo,  27.  Anrient 
cuflom  of  facrificing  a  virgin  yearly  to  the  river 
god,  27.  Pillar  for  meafuring  its  rife,  28. 
Steps  on  which  Mofes  is  faid  to  have  been 
found,  29.  Courfe  turned  by  Mcnes  Brit  king 
of  Egypt,  40.     Conjecture  about  its  antient 

bed,  41.   about  the  method  of  turning 

its  courfe,  56.  Its  annual  inundation  fufficient 
to  water  the  country  of  Egypt,  without  rain, 
59.  Communication  with  the  canal  Bahr  Jo- 
fepli,  64.  Danger  of  failing  on  it  in  the 
night,  70.  All  the  water  in  Egypt  fuppofed 
to  come  from  it,  except  that  near  Akmim, 
4 


78,  198.  Very  narrow  at  Hajar-Silcily,  114. 
Nilometcr  at  Elephantine,  for  meafuring  the 
rife  of  the  water,  117.  Grand  Signor's  reve- 
nue not  fent  from  Egypt  uniefs  the  river  rife 
to  a  certain  heighth,  172.  One  of  the  princi- 
pal curiofities  of  Egypt,  198.  Conjectures  a- 
bout  the  caufe  of  its  annual  inundation,  ib. 
Some  account  of  its  rife,  199,  200.  Suppofed 
by  fome  to  begin  to  rife  every  year  on  the  fame 
day,  ib.  Conjecture  about  a  dew  faid  to  fall 
the  night  before,  ib,  Change  of  the  colour  of 
the  waters,  and  their  effects,  after  it  has  begun 
to  rife,  ib.  Conjecture  about  the  caufe  of  that 
change,  ib.  Method  of  making  the  water 
fine,  ib.  Rife  accounted  a  miracle,  and  why, 
ib.  Reckoned  the  better,  the  fooner  it  begins, 
ib.  What  heighths  are  moderate,  and  what 
exceffive,  ib.  Has  fometimes  rifen  at  an  unu- 
fual  time,  201.  Methods  of  raifing  its  waters 
by  labour,  ib.  Conjectures  about  its  rife,  249, 
250.  Account  of  it  by  Herodotus,  251.  By 
Strabo,  252.  By  Kalkafendas,  ib.  et  feqq.  A 
view  of  its  rife  at  feveral  diftant  periods,  253. 
Very  difficult  to  determine  the  real  heighth  it 
rifes  to,  ib.  The  world  much  miftaken  about 
it,  ib.  Conjectures  about  the  antient  method 
of  meafuring  it,  ib.  See  Mikias.  Obferva- 
tions  made  in  the  Mikias,  256.  An  account 
of  the  heighths  it  rofe  to  for  three  years,  ib.  et 
feqq.  A  view  of  the  times  of  the  year  at  which 
it  was  rifen  to  fixteen  pikes,  for  forty- fix  years, 
258.    See  Crocodiles,  Fijbes,  etc. 

Nitre,  foil  of  Egypt  full  of  it,  197.  The  chief 
caufe  of  the  fruitfulnefs  of  Egypt,  ib. 

Nokta,  what,  199 

Nomi,  2  ,  j£  1  .  ' 

O. 

OASIS,  Chriftians  often  banifhed  thither,  83. 
Letter  from  St.  Athanafius  to  them  there, 
ib.  Three  different  places  of  this  name,  and 
where  fituated,  ib.  Lake  there,  ib. 
Obelijks,  at  Alexandria,  5,  7.  At  Heliopolis,  23. 
By  whom  fuppofed  to  have  been  erected,  ib. 
At  Arfinoe,  59.  At  Thebes,  95.  Two  at 
Luxerein,  reckoned  among  the  fineft  in  die 
world,  107.  Their  meafures,  ib.  At  Con- 
ftantinople,  229.  Conjectures  about  the  In- 
fcriptions  upon  it,  ib. 
Obfervatory,  mentioned  by  the  Arabian  hifto- 

rians,  36.     At  Syene,  117 
Ogiaks,  (Military)  what,  162 
Okelas,  at  Cairo,  what,  37 
Omar,  mofque  of,  at  Cairo,  28 
Ombus.    See  Com-Ombo. 

On,  of  the  fcriptures,  fince  called  Heliopolis,  now 
Matarea,  23.  Inhabitants,  worfhippers  of  the 
fun  and  of  the  bull  Mnevis,  ib. 

Onias,  why  fo  called,  22.  The  fame  with  an- 
tient Leontopolis,  ib.    Temple  there,  ib. 

Onuphrius,  (St.)  convent  of,  149 

Ofiris,  17.  Alylum  of,  ib.  Tradition  about  his 
burial-place,  ib.  Worfhipped  at  Memphis 
under  the  form  of  a  bull  called  Apis,  41.  Sta- 
tues of,  at  Saccara,  49.  Temple  of,  at  Acan- 
thus, 69.  Anubis  and  Macedon,  his  compa- 
nions, traditions  about  them,  71.  Thebes 
laid  to  have  been  built  by  him,  91.  Said  to 
have  been  buried  at  Phils,  120.  Worfhipped 
under  the  form  of  the  hawk,  209.  Statue  of, 
I  1  i  i  defcribed, 


INDEX. 


dei'cribed,  212.  On  what  account  worfhip- 
pcd,  223.  His  hiftory,  225,  et  feqq.  Killed 
by  Typhon,  226.  His  body,  how  difpofed  of, 
and  divine  honours  procured  him  by  Ifis,  ib. 
Said  to  have  punifhed  the  giants,  227 

OJlrich,  a  drug  made  of  its  fleth,  209 

OJymanduas  (King)  his  fepulchre,  106.  Extra- 
ordinary infcriprion  on  it,  108.  Golden  circle 
which  furrounded  it,  2  1  8 

Ottoman  family,  1 

Quardcn,  governor  of,  1 7 

Oxyrinchus,  72.  Conjectured  to  have  flood  where 
Abou-Girge  is  now,  ib.  Fiih  worfhipped  there, 
ib. 

Oyjler-fhclls,  hills  entirely  made  up  of  them,  56. 
Petrified,  ib.  el  73 

P. 

XyAinlings,  in  the  fepulchres  of  the  kings  at 

1     Thebes,  remarkably  frefii,  98 

Palaces,  of  the  kings  at  Alexandria,  4.  Antient, 

of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  conjectured  not  to  have 

been  magnificent,  220 
Palm-tree,  defcribed,  205,  et  feqq.    Thebaic,  or 

Dome  tree,  ib. 
Panium,  5 

Panopolis,  76.    Whence  fo  called,  ib. 
Panteleemon  (St.)  chapel  of,  1 45 
Papouches,  what,  190 

Pafia,  nature  of  his  office,  rC2,  163.  Heirs  of 
all  eftates  in  Egypt  inverted  by  him,  ib.  His 
perfon  facred,  163.  Removal  a  ftep  toward 
advancement,  ib.  Generally  a  very  eafy  place, 
ib.  His  Caia,  how  to  be  qualified,  ib.  De- 
ftruaion  among  the  leading  men  often  occa- 
floned  by  him,  ib.  Ceremony  at  depofing 
him,  169.  Obliged  to  refund  the  expence  be- 
llowed at  his  public  entry,  ib.  Inftances  of  the 
wicked  intrigues  of  Palhas,  179,  etfeqq. 

Pa/pert.    See  Firman. 

Patent,  copy  of  that  of  Mahomet  to  the  monks  of 
Mount  Sinai,  268,  et  feqq. 

Patriarch,  Greek,  of  Alexandria,  vifit  to  him,  15. 
Patriarch's  ftreet,  28.  Coptic,  how  elefted, 
245.  Preaches  once  a  year,  246.  Whimfical 
method  of  extorting  his  leave  to  eat  eggs  in 
Lent,  ib.    St.  Mark  faid  to  have  been  the  firll 

of  Alexandria,  244.    of  Conftantinople, 

form  of  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  him, 

272.   ■  of  Alexandria,  lift  of  bilhopricks 

under  him,  279,  et  feqq. 

Paul  (St )    See  Antony. 

Pelufiac  branch  of  the  Nile,  the  fame  with  the  Bu- 

baftic,  18,  20. 
Penuafi,  a  people  fo  called,  137 
Peter  and  Paul  (SS.)  convent  of,  1 3 
PetrifaBions,  197 
Phacitfa,  22 
Phagroriopolis,  136 
Pharamitie,  158 

Pharan,  hill,  conjecture  about  it,  158 

Pharos,  at  Alexandria,  2 

Phatnitic  branch  of  the  Nile,  2 1 

PhiU  (Me  of)  its  extent,  120.  Temple,  ib. 
IQe  held  facred,  and  why,  ib.  Remains  of  an 
antient  wall,  Coloffal  figures,  obelifks,  etc.  121. 
Beautiful  profpeft  from  thence,  ib.  Another 
temple  there,  ib.  Pillars  of  it,  the  fined  in  E- 
gypt,  ib.   Manner  of  coming  to  the  ifle  upon 


floats,  ib.    High  rocks  artificially  cut,  with 
hieroglyphics,  there,  ib. 
Phthonthis,  village,  1 14 
Pidgeon-houfes,  much  valued  in  Egypt,  2 10 
Pigmy  and  crane  fighting,  a  figure  of  them  de- 
fcribed, 213 

Pilgrims  (Lake  of )  132.  See  the  articles  Cara- 
van, and  Mecca. 

Pillars,  remains  of  grand  ones  to  be  feen  under 

water  at  Alexandria,  2,  3,  5.   of  Pom- 

pey,  7.  Eleven  built  to  direct  the  way  through 
the  deferts  of  Canopus,  r3-  Ruins  of,  in  the 
temple  at  Baalbait,  2  r .  Famous  one  for  mea- 
furing  the  rife  of  the  Nile,  28.    See  Mikias. 

•         Egyptian,  the  proportion  in  them  not 

eafily  fixed,  215.  Seealfo2i6.  Meafures 
of  feveral,  221 

Plague,  what  numbers  have  died  of  it  in  one 
day  at  Cairo,  38.  At  what  feafon  of  the  year 
it  begins  to  flop,  and  conjecture  about  the 
caufe  of  its  flopping,  200 

Plants,  Egyptian  and  Arabian,  lift  of  fome,  281, 

"fill-  ,  .  * 

Plato  and  Eudoxus,  their  apartments  at  Heltopo- 

lis  Ihewn  to  Srrabo,  23 
Pliny,  fituation  of  Memphis  fixed  by  him,  40 
Pompey,  where  murdered  and  buried,  18 
Pomponius  Mela,  his  opinion  about  the  ufe  for 

which  the  labyrinth  was  built,  61 
Porte  (Ottoman)  have  often  endeavoured  to  bring 

the  military  bodies  of  Egypt  more  under  fub- 

jection,  165.    See  Signer  (Grand)  etc. 
Porticos,  at  Alexandria,  6.    At  Archemounain, 

74.    At  Gaua-Kiebre,  76 

Ports,  of  Alexandria,  2.          of  the  Kings,  5 

Prayer,  publick  place  for,  at  Cairo,  36.  The 

fame  near  all  cities  in  Turkey,  ib. 
Predeftiuation,  believed  by  the  Egyptians,  180, 

196 

Prie/ls,  of  Heliopolis,  men  of  learning,  23.  Of 
the  convent  of  St.  Anthony,  70 

Pfamnwtichits,  the  labyrinth  fuppofed  to  have  been 
built  for  his  fepulchre,  61 

Ptolemy,  the  fecond,  canal  of  the  Kings  probably 
finiined  by  him,  22 

Pyramids,  near  Cairo,  25,  40.  Of  Gize,  41. 
Conjecture,  sk  Moftly  ruinous,  ib.  One  of 
them,  by  whom  faid  to  have  been  built,  42. 
Different  accounts  of  them  by  Herodotus,  Di- 
odorus,  and  Strabo,  ib.  By  Greaves,  Lewen- 
ftein  and  Mallet,  43.  Subterraneous  apart- 
ments under  one  of  them,  according  to  Hero- 
dotus, ib.  Suppofed  to  have  been  the  fepul- 
chres of  the  Kings  of  Egypt,  it.  Meafures 
of  the  infide  of  the  great  pyramid,  ib.  Se- 
cond pyramid  of  Gize  defcribed,  45.  By  whom 
faid  to  have  been  built,  ib.  Accounts  of  He- 
rodotus, Strabo,  Diodorus,  and  Thevenot,  ib. 
Grottos,  in  the  rocks  near,  46.  Ruins,  fup- 
pofed of  a  temple  near,  ib.  Third  pyramid, 
by  whom  faid  to  have  been  built,  47.  Mea- 
fures, and  other  particulars,  according  to  He- 
rodotus, Diodorus,  and  Strabo,  ib.  Conje- 
ctured to  have  been  built  around  hills,  48,50. 
Wells  in  the  bottom  of  them,  very  difficult 
to  go  down  into,  ib.  Brick  pyramid,  49. 
Of  Saccara,  ib.  Imperfect  one  called  Mufta- 
bait-el-Pharaone,  50.  Tradition  about  it,  ib. 
Great  one,  5 1 .  Defcription  and  Meafures,  etc. 
ib.    Suppofed  equal  to  the  great  one  of  Gize, 


INDEX. 


3°7 


ib.  D"fcription  and  meafures  of  rooms  with- 
in it,  52.  Great  one  to  the  South,  ib.  Dc- 
fcription  and  meafures,  ib.    Ruined  one,  53. 

 of  imburnt  brick,  ib.    Defcription,  rtiea- 

iiires,  and  conjectures  about  it,  ib.  At  Arfi- 
noe,  57.  Defcription,  ib.  In  the  lake  Mce- 
ris,  65.  Of  Davara,  66.  Great,  orfalfeone 
near  Stalhiteh,  69.  Conjectures  about  it,  70. 
Entrance  to  the  great  one  defcribed,  234,  et 
feqq.  How  it  was  forced  open,  ib'.  et  feqq.  Art 
of  thcarchfteft  in  fhutting  up  the  palTagc,  ib. 
et  feqq.  Gallery,  236.  Firft  chamber,  237. 
Niche,  fuppofed  to  have  contained  the  body 
of  the  Queen,  ib.  Upper  chamber  where  the 
body  of  the  King  was  depofited,  ib.  Flaw  ob- 
ferved  in  the  ftones  of  the  pafTage,  and  con- 
jecture about  the  caufe,  of  it,  ib.  Second 
chamber,  239.  Tomb  of  granite  in  ir,  fup- 
pofed to  have  contained  the  body  of  the  King, 
ib.  Not  to  be  doubted,  that  feveral  living 
perfons  fhut  thcmfelves  up  with  him,  ib.  Pal- 
fages  in  the  pyramid,  confirming  this  conje- 
cture, 240.  Doubts  about  the  manner  of  fil- 
ling up  the  entrance,  when  the  pyramid  was 
built,  anfwered,  ib.  Secret  of  the  gallery,  and 
conjectures,  ib.  et  ftqq.  The  well,  243.  Grot- 
to, ib.  et  244 


Uarries,  of  granite,  and  conjectures  about 
the  method  of  working  them,  1 17,  120 

R 


RAHA  (Vale  of)    See  Sinai  (Mount;) 
Raie^y  of)  142 
Raigni,  125 

Rain  and  hail  in  Egypt,  59.  Caufe  of  fcarcity, 
ib. 

Raitho,  conjecture  about  that  name,  141 
Ramefan,  or  Turkifh  faft,  72,  Very  fevere  upon 

the  labouring  people,  184 
Ramefes,  fame  with  the  land  of  Gofhen,  24 
Rampart,  of  Memphis,  40 
Rafchid,  the  Egyptian  name  of  Rofetto,  13 
Red  Sea,  divided  into  two  gulfs,  viz.  the  Elani- 

tic  and  Heroopolitic,  132.    Productions  of  it 

very  ruinous,  141.     See  Tor. 
Reifnnah,  140-    Whence  fo  called,  ib.  Cultom 

of  the  Mahometans  at  that  place,  ib. 
Religion,  and  religious  ceremonies,  etc.    See  the 

articles  Coptis,  Ofiris,  Mythology,  etc. 
Rembla,  defert  of,  137 
Rank,  plain  fo  called,  at  Cairo,  33 
Rephidim  (Vale  of)  143 
Rhacofis,  5 
Rhinocorura,  1 8 

Rice,  method  of  preparing  it,  204.  Cultivation 
of  it,  259. 

Righah,  70 

Robbery,  danger  of,  55,131,  etc. 

Rocks,  of  extraordinary  fhapes,  1 7 

Roida  (Ifle)  near  Cairo,  26.  Its  beauties,  28. 
Ruins  there,  29.  Said  to  have  had  a  Sultan's 
palace  on  it,  ib. 

Romans,  Egypt  conquered  by  them,  1 

Rofetto,  3,  Its  fituation,  13.  One  of  the  plea- 
fanteft  places  in  Egypt,  ib.  Gardens,  groves 
of  palm  trees,  lakes,  rice  fields,  etc.  there, 
14.  Traditions  about  it,  ib.  Manufacture  of 
Linen  there,  and  trade  with  Cairo,  ib.  Par- 


ticularity in  the  rifing  of  the  Nile  there,  ib. 
Caftle  of,  1 5 

Ruins  near  Manfoura,  20.  On  the  ifle  Roida, 
29.  At  Caraffa,  near  Cairo,  35.  Near  Sac- 
cara,  49.  Of  Arfinoe,  58,  59.  At  the  lake 
Mceris,  65.  At  Cafr  Caroon,  66.  Tower  of 
King  Antar,  69.  At  Sharony,  71.  Of  An- 
tinoopolis,  73.  Of  Hermoopolis,  74.  At 
Manfalouth,  ib.  At  Mount  Bibian,  ib.  At 
Gaua  Kiebre,  76.  At  Akmim,  77.  At  Men- 
fhieh,  82.  Of  antientTentyra,  85.  AtKept, 
88.  At  Carnack,  90—97.  Of  a  temple  fup- 
pofed to  be  that  of  Ofymanduas,  91.  AtLux- 
erein,  106.  Of  Erment,  no.  AtHajar-Sil- 
cily,  114.  At  Com-ombo,  115.  At  Affou- 
an,  116.  At  Syene,  117.  At  Elephantine, 
118.    AtPhike,  120.    At  Tor,  141,  142 

Ryan,  place  fo  called,  65 


QACCARA,  pyramids  of.     See  pyramids. 
^  catacombs  of.    See  Catacombs. 
Saffranoun,  what,  204 

Sais,  fuppofed  to  be  Sin  of  the  fcriptures,  17. 
Room  cut  out  of  one  ftone  there,  ib.  et  118. 
Temple  of  Minerva  there,  17.  Afylum  of 
Ofiris  there,  and  ftory  of  his  having  been  bu- 
ried there,  etc.  ib. 

Saladin,  walls  round  Cairo,  faid  to  have  been 
built  by  him,  25.  Caftle  of  Cairo,  faid  to  have 
been  built  by  him,  32 

Sal  Armoniac,  prepared  at  Cairo,  37.  Method  of 
preparing  it,  259 

Salisbury  (Earl  of)  his  heroic  death,  20 

Samalout,  73 

Sangiaks,  and  Sangialics,  what,  161.  Sangiak  of 
upper  Egypt,  his  great  power,  164,  172 

Sara  (Cafhif)  ftory  of  him,  72 

Saracens,  1.  City  Alexandria  taken  by  them, 
2.  Country  of,  136.  Arabians  call'd  Saracens, 
and  why,  137 

Saranebi  (Mofque  of)  why  fo  called,  55. 

Sarcophagus,  at  Cairo,  32.  At  Kept,  89.  Con- 
jecture about  them,  ib. 

Saroneby,  near  Cairo,  25 

Sciout,  town  of,  73.  Suppofed  the  fame  with 
Antaeopolis,  ib.  One  of  the  chief  cities  in  E- 
gypt,  ib.  Lake,  canal,  bridge,  gardens,  grot- 
tos, etc.  there,  ib.  Why  antiently  called  An- 
tfeopolis,  ib. 

Sculpture,  on  the  buildings  in  Egypt,  219.  &  feqq, 
Suppofed  to  have  been  executed  after  the  build- 
ings were  finifhed,  ib.  See  the  articles,  Archi- 
tecture, Colojfus,  Pillars,  Temples,  etc. 

Sea  (Red)  See  Red  fea.  Of  its  gaining  upon  the 
dry  land,  2,  3 

Seals,  and  medals.  See  Medals.  Of  fame  brought 
from  Egypt,  2 14 

Sebennitic,  branch  of  the  Nile,  16,  22 

Sebennytus,  capital  of  a  province,  22 

Seer  (Valley  of)  147 

Selemenites,  a  feet  fo  call'd  at  Tor,  141 

Selim  (Sultan)  1.  Camp  at  Heliopolis,  23.  Tra- 
dition of  his  having  condemned  a  Bey  or  Sultan 
to  be  tortured  and  hang'd,  30.  Hiftorical  ac- 
count, and  conjectures,  about  the  changes  made 
by  him  in  the  conftitution  of  Egypt,  64 

Seling,  conjectured  to  be  the  antient  Selinon,  75. 

Semenud,  a  confiderable  town,  22 

Senna,  trade  of,  122,  205 

Sennours, 


INDEX. 


Sennours,  village,  entertainment  there,  57 
Sepulchres,    See  Tombs. 
Serapium,  41 

Sergius  (St.)  church  of,  holy  family  laid  to  have 

been  in  ir,  27 
Serich  (Mount)  143 

Sefsftris,  King  ofEgypt,  canal  of  the  Kings  made 
by  him,  22.  His  intent  in  making  the  canals 
in  Egypt,  197 

Sharme,  137 

Sharoiiy,j\.  Ruins  there,  and  conjecture  about 
them,  127 

Sheik-Belief  nature  of  his  office,  and  conjectures 

about  the  original  of  it,  163 
Sheik-Faddle,  a  battle  fcen  there,  127. 
Sheiks,  137.    Hold  their  authority  of  the  Paiha, 

162.  Of  mofques,  171 
Sbeik-Salem  (Vale  of )  144 
Shields,  pierced  by  Sultan  Amurath,  (hewn  at 

Cairo,  3  3 

Shur,  or  Shedur,  deferts  of,  139.     Cattle  of, 

ibid. 
Sibillallam,  160 

Signor  (Grand)  originally  proprietor  of  all  the 
lands  in  Egypt,  162.  Greatnefs  of  his  reve- 
nues, 171.  Amount  of  his  revenue  from  the 
villages  ofEgypt,  ib.  Method  of  fending  it 
to  Conftantinoplc,  ib.  Never  fent  from  Egypt, 
unlefs  the  Nile  riles  to  a  certain  height,  172, 
201 

Sihor,  the  river  of  Egypt,  1 36 

Sinai  (Mounp  manner  of  performing  the  jour- 
ney from  Cairo  thither,  130.  Convent  of,  o- 
therwife  call'd  the  convent  of  St.  Catharine, 
142.  Author  arrives  there,  and  is  received 
into  it  through  a  window,  143.  Manner  of 
reception,  etc.  ib.  How  named  by  the  Arabs, 
ib.  Defcription  of  it,  ib.  &  feqq.  By  fome 
divided  into  four  mounts,  but  molt  commonly 
into  Sinai  and  Horeb,  ib.  Situation  of  the  con- 
vent, ib.  Well  in  it,  and  tradition  about  it, 
ib.  Mount  of  Mofes,  and  tradition  about  it, 
ib.  Chapel  of  the  holy  Bum,  and  tradition  a- 
bout  it,  ib.  Vale  of  Jah,  ib.  Rephidim,  ib. 
Rock,  faid  to  be  the  fame  which  Mofcs  ftruck, 
defcribed,  ib.  Called  The  ftone  of  Mofes,  and 
fuperftitious  opinion  of  the  Arabs  about  it,  144. 
Convent  of  the  forty  martyrs,  ib.  The  only 
fruit-trees  in  thefe  parts,  in  the  gardens  here, 
ib.  Mount  of  St.  Catharine,  and  traditions  a- 
bout  her,  ib.  Spring  of  Partridges,  and  tradi- 
tion about  it,  ib.  Ex  ten  five  profpect  from  the_ 
mount  of  St.  Catharine,  ib.  Particular  kind  of 
ftone  of  which  it  is  compofed,  ib.  Vales  of 
Jah,  of  Melgah,  of  Raha,  of  Sheik  Salem,  ib. 
Summit  of  Mount  Sinai  not  to  be  feen  from 
many  places  near,  ib.  Wells,  etc.  ib.  Cha- 
pels of  St.  Panteleemon,  and  John  the  Baptiit, 
145,  146.  Road  of  Serich,  fuppofed  to  be 
the  way  by  which  Mofes  alcended  the  moun- 
tain, ib.  Tradition  about  the  golden  calf,  ib. 
About  the  deftruction  of  Dathan  and  Abiram, 
ib.  Conjectures  about  the  original  of  the  name 
Sinai,  ib.  Chapel  of  St.  Mary,  ib.  Cuftoms 
obferved  by  thofe  that  afcend  the  mountain, 
ib.  Road  call'd  The  road  of  God,  ib.  Con- 
jectures about  the  fpot  on  which  God  appear'd 
to  Mofes,  146.  Tower,  etc.  built  here  by  :hc 
Emprefs  Helena,  ib.  Chapel  of  the  holy  Gir- 
dle, ib.    Cells  near  the  convents  of  St,  Pante- 


leemon, and  St.  John  the  Baptlft,  and  con- 
jectures about  them,  ib.  Cell  of  St.  Stephen, 
ib.  Vale  of  Elias,  ib.  Chapels  of  Elias,  Eli/ha, 
and  St.  Marina,  ib.  Print  of  a  camel's  foot 
there,  and  abfurd  tradition  about  it,  ib.  Hang- 
ing rock,  which  Elias  was  forbid  to  pafs,  ib. 
Top  of  the  mount  defcribed,  ib.  Mofque,and 
grotto,  ib.  Tradition  of  Mofes's  having  fafted 
forty  days  there,  ib.  Infeription,  ib.  Greek 
church  of  our  Saviour,  ib.  Latin  one,  ib. 
Rock  on  the  fummit  of  the  mount,  and  tradi- 
tion about  it,  147.  Sacriiices  perform'd  there 
by  the  Mahometans,  ib.  Citterns  there,  ib. 
Number  of  fteps  in  the  afcent  of  the  mountain, 
ib.  Valley  of  Seer,  ib.  Of  what  the  moun- 
tain is  compofed,  ib.  Mount  Epifteme.  See 
Epifteme.  Privileges  of  the  convent,  148.  In- 
fcription  mention'd  by  Kircher,  on  a  ftone  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Horeb,  and  traditions  about 
the  ftone,  ib.  Infcriptions  not  cut,  but  ftained, 
ib.  Several  convents,  1 49.  Great  convent, 
fuppofed  to  have  been  built  by  the  Emprefs 
Helena,  ib.  Defcription,  and  meafures,  ib. 
Church  of  the  Transfiguration,  ib.  Relicts  of 
St.  Catharine,  1 50.  Chapel  of  the  holy  fa- 
thers, and  infeription,  ib.  Wells,  151,  Con- 
vent, how  governed,  ib.  Decency  of  their 
worfhip,  152.  Ceremonies,  ib.  Cuftoms  on 
the  arrival  of  pilgrims,  153.  Library,  rnanu- 
fcripts,  and  Greek  books  of  the  hrft  print- 
ing, ib.  Several  fingular  cuftoms,  ib.  Leaves 
the  convent  to  view  feveral  other  places  about 
Mount  Sinai  and  Horeb,  and  returning,  fees 
their  ceremonies  at  the  convent,  etc.  154  Af- 
cends  the  mountain  a  fecond  time,  and  departs, 
158.  Patent  of  Mahomet,  to  the  monks  of  it, 
2 1 8.  etc. 

Sirbonis,  lake,  its  properties  according  to  Strabo, 
18 

Siflrum,  mufical  inftrument  fo  called  defcribed, 
212 

Slaves,  trade  in  them,  126.    Their  great  power 

in  Egypt,  164.    See  Mamalukes. 
Sment  (lfte  and  village  of)  70 
Soil,  conjectures  about  that  of  Arfinoe,  5S.  Of 

Egypt,   197.    Caufes  of  its  fruitfulnefs,  ib. 

Antient  ftate,  ib. 
Souadgy,  town,  79 
SotHidy,  73 

Sount,  or  Acacia  tree,  69 

Spabis,  the  cavalry  in  Egypt  fo  called,  166 

Sphinx  (Statues  of)  11,  12,  23,  46.  At  Thebes, 
92,  93.  Famous  one,  46.  Defcription  and 
meafures,  ib.    At  Amara,  87 

Sprmgs  of  Mofes,  138.  Nature  of  the  Soil 
round  them,  ib.  Of  Ouardan,  139.  At  Je- 
bel-Ie-Marah,  ib.  Of  hot  waters,  called  Je- 
bel-Hamam-Pharaone,  ib.  Obfervations  and 
experiments  made  on  thefe  Waters,  140. 
Method  of  ufing  them,  and  their  fuppofed 
virtues,  ib.  Of  Woufet,  ib.  Of  Taldi,  ib. 
Nach-el-Tor,  141.  Accident  which  happened 
there,  ib. 

Sialhiteh,  village,  69 

Statues,  of  Sphinxes,  11,  12,  23,  46.  Of  Dei- 
ties, etc.  at  Baalbait,  of  exquifite  workman- 
fhip,  2  t.  Small  ones  of  Ofiris,  atSaccara,  49. 
Coloffal,  in  the  lake  Mceris,  65.  At  Amara, 
87.  At  Thebes,  93.  At  Luxeixin,  106.  At  E- 
lephantine,    1 1 7.    Of  Ifis,  defcribed,  211. 

Of 


INDEX. 


2.09 


Of  Ofiris,  defcription  of  it,  212.  Of  Harpo- 
crates,  213,  214.  Defcription  of  one  lately 
brought  from  Egypt,  284 

Stephen,  (St.)  cell  of,  146 

Stinc-Marin,  animal  fo  called,  208 

Strabo,  great  obfcurity  in  his  fituations  of  places, 
2.  His  account  of  the  lake  Sirbonis,  18. 
Shewn  the  apartments  of  Plato  and  Eudoxus 
at  Heliopolis,  23.  His  account  of  the  fituatton 
•  of  Memphis,  40.  His  conjecture  about  the 
ufe  for  which  the  labyrinth  was  built,  61.  His 

account  of  the  pyramids,  etc.  62.   of 

Typhonia,  87.   of  Egyptian  temples,^ 

92.   of  the  fepulchres  of  the  kings  of 

Thebes,  97.   of  Cleopatris,  Arfinoe,  etc. 

132.   of  the  rife  of  the  Nile,  252 

Subterraneous  palfages  from  Jofeph's  well  at  Cai- 
ro* 34 

Suez,  132.  Well  of,  Portof,  etc.  133.  Go- 
vernment of,  ib.  Scarcity  of  water  there,  and 
advantage  taken  thereby  of  the  inhabitants 
by  the  Sheik  Arab,  ib.  Canal,  mofques, 
Greek  church,  lake,  etc.  134.  Trade,  ib. 
Fleet,  and  manner  of  the  voyage  from  thence 
to  Jedda,  ib.  Ships  defcribed,  135.  Voyage 
from  thence  to  Jedda  dangerous,  ib.  Manner 
of  anchoring  their  mips,  and  materials  their  ca- 
bles are  made  of,  136.  Madreporae,  or  coral, 
there,  ib.  Deftitute  of  all  things  the  earth  pro- 
duces, ib. 

Sugar  canes,  much  ufed  in  Egypt,  204.  Manu- 
facture of,  ib. 
Sim,  wormipped  at  Heliopolis,  23 
Surplice,  conjecture  about  its  original,  1S9 
Sycamore-tree,  tradition  of  the  Holy  family's  hav- 
ing been  faved  in  an  hollow  one,  24.  The 
fame  with  Pharoah's  fig-tree,  28 
Syene,  ruins  of,  116.    Ruins  there,  probably  of  a 
temple,  117.     Obfervatory,  etc.  there,  16. 
Quarries  of  granite  there,  and  conjectures  about 
the  method  of  working  them,  ib. 
Synagogue,  at  Cairo,  pretended  to  be  of  great  an- 
tiquity, 27 

Syria,  trade  of  exporting  foap  from  thence,  20 


TAFNES  whence  fo  called,  20 
Tailoun,  part  of  Cairo  fo  called,  32 
Talc,  called  Trichites,  56,  139 
Tal&i,  140 

Tamiea,  56.    Canal  there,  ib. 

Taxis,  theZoanof  fcripture,  20 

Taphanhes,  of  fcripture,  20 

Tapofiris,  10,  12.  Statues  of  Spinxes,  Coloflal 
flatties,  and  ruins  there,  ib.  Rocks  feen  at  the 
bottom  of  the  fea  there,  artificially  fliaped,  ib. 
Wells  of  frefli  water  there,  ib. 

Taroutefherif,  74 

Te,  a  general  name  for  mountains  in  Egypt,  138 
T '.arofaid,  131 

Tefterdar  of  Egypt,  who,  162 

Temples,  ruined  one  of  Ifis  at  Baalbait,  21.  Its 
length  and  magnificence,  ib.  To  Diana,  a: 
Benalliaffar,  22.  At  Onias,  in  oppofition  to 
that  of  Jerufalem,  22.  Near  the  pyramids, 
47.  Of  the  labyrinth,  61.  Of  Ofiris  at  A- 
canthus,  69.  At  Archemounain,  74.  Ruins 
of,  at  Gaua-Kiebre,  76.  At  Akmim,  77. 
At  EL-Berbi,  entirely  demolifhed,  8  3.  At  A- 
mara,  86.    At  Kept,  88.  At  Cous,  89.  Ruins 


of  magnificent  ones  at  Carnack,  91*— 97. 
At  Luxerein,  106.  At  Erment,  110.  At 
Efne,  in.  At  Com-Ombo,  115.  At  Ele- 
phantine, 117.  At  Phike,  r20.  At  Arche- 
mounain, 127.  Of  Solomon,  conjecture  about 
the  palm-trees  mentioned  in  fcripture  as  orna- 
ments of  it,  217 
Tencre,  18 

Tentyra,  S5.  Inhabitants  of,  enemies  and  de- 
ftroyers  of  the  crocodile,  and  often  at  war  with 
the  worlhippers  of  that  animal,  ib.  Notion  ot 
their  having  an  extraordinary  power  over  the 
crocodile,  86\  Great  worfhippers  of  Ifis  and 
Venus,  ib. 

Tejtimonhim,  copy  of  one,  275 

Thabanea  (Canal  of)  2 1 

Theatre,  at  Alexandria,  7 

Thebes,  2.  By  whom  built,  and  its  extent,  gr. 
Memnonium,  fo  cailed  from  the  templeof Me'm- 
non  there,  ib.  Eaftern  part  afterwards  called 
Great  Diolpolis,  ib.  Hundred  gates  of,  and 
conjectures  about  them,  9 1 .  Four  magnificent 
temples  faid  to  have  been  there,  92.  Aftonifli- 
ing  account:  given  of  one  of  them,  not  to  be 
difcredited,  ib.  Defcription  of  feveral  ruined 
temples  there,  91 — 97.  Perhaps  the  fame  that 
was  in  antient  times  called  Sheba,  110.  See 
Carnack. 

Themaie,  fuppofed  to  be  the  fame  with  Baal-bej's, 
and  antient  Heracleopolis,  20 

Tholoun,  partof  Cairo  built  by  him,  32 

Thonis,  a  king  of  that  name  faid  to  have  entertain- 
ed Menelaus  and  Helen,  12 

Timoniujn,  at  Alexandria,  5 

Tim/ah,  the  modern  name  of  the  crocodile,  203 

Tobacco,  trade  of,  atDamiata,  20 

Tombs,  of  the  kings,  at  Alexandria,  4.  Of  Ach- 
rned  Bedoui,  and  tradition  about  it,  17.  Of 
Alexander,  At  Cairo,  35,  36.  Near  the 
pyramids  of  Gize,  41,  Of  the  kings  in 
the  labyrinth,  61.  Of  the  crocodiles  there,  ib. 
Of  the  kings  of  Thebes,  97.  Accountof  them 
by  Diodorus  Siculus,  98.  Paintings  in  them, 
ib.  Defcription  of  them,  ib.  Prodigious  one 
of  Ofymanduas,  106 

Tofar,  60 

Tor,  137.  Situation,  141.  Ruined  caftle,  ib. 
People  of  the  Greek  church  there,  ib.  Seje- 
menites,  a  particular  feet  there,  ib.  Conje- 
ftures  about  them,  ib.  Excellent  water  there, 
ib.  Baths  of  Mofes,  ib.  Productions  of  the 
Red  fea  to  be  feen  there,  ib.  142,  Ano- 
ther caftle,  r52.    Village  Jebelee,  near,  ib. 

Torrent,  or  river  of  Egypt,  l  8 

Towers,  for  the  defence  of  Alexandria,  3.  Of 
King  Antar,  69 

Tourat-Nadtr,  canal  fo  called,  160 

Trade,  of  Damiata,  20.  Of  Cairo,  39.  Of 
Kept,  87,  S8.  Of  Senna,  how  managed, 
122.    Of  Suez,  134.    Of  coffce,  ib.    Of  E- 

gyp%  173 

Trajan,  canal  of,  133,  et  feqq. 

Transfiguration  (Church  of  the)  149.  Defcrip- 
tion, antiquity,  inferiptions,  traditions,  etc.  150. 
Reiicks  of  St.  Catharine  there,  ib. 

T reafurer  of  Egypt,    See  Tefterdar. 

Trees  of  Egypt,  205,  et  feqq\. 

Turcoman,  race  at  Cairo,  38 

Turks,  their  manner  at  vifits  defcribed,  15,  184. 
Lay  afide  their  gravity  in  private,  59.  Falls. 
See  Fafis.  Princes,  their  cuftom  of  feizing  the 
Kkkk  eftates, 


1 


I    N  D 

■eftates  got  in  their  fervice,  68.  Feaft,  Bi- 
ram,  85.  Women's  ornaments  very  coftly, 
178.  Turks,  who  properly  fo  called,  178. 
Their  character,  ib.  Very  artful,  'etc.  181. 
Decent  in  their  behaviour,  182.    Manner  of 

falutation,  ib.  of  eating,  ib.    A  kind  of 

beer  made  by  them,  ib.  Manner  of  exprefllng 
their  difTatisfaction,  184.  Benilh  days,  ib, 
Meidans,  diverfions  there,  ib.  Do  not  pra- 
ctife  reading,  ib.  Calculation  of  time,  185. 
TEra,  ib.  Bathing,  ib.  Manner  of  travelling, 
ib.  Kitchen,  and  other  utenfils,  186 
Turpbaier,  69 

lypbon,  Ofiris  faid  to  have  been  fiain  by  him, 

226  -  ■  ' 

Typhonia  of  Strabo,  conjectures  about  it,  87 

U 

UNiverfity,  at  Cairo,  35 
Upper  Egypt.    See  Egypt 

V 

VASES,  antient,  at  Cairo,  29 
Vegetables  of  Egypt,  204 
Venus,  temple  to  her  at  Memphis,  41.    At  Ten- 
tyra,  86 

Vipers,  in  Egypt,  called  Ceraftes  by  the  antients, 

208 

Virgin.)  antient  cuftom  of  facrificing  one  yearly  to 
the  Nile,  27.  One  confecrated  annually  at 
Thebes,  96 

Vulcan,  temple  to  him  at  Memphis,  4r 

W. 

WAAD-Aie  plain  fo  called,  158.  Hebran, 
142.    Pharan,  14 
Walla,  nature  of  his  office,  165 
Walls,  of  Alexandria,  3 
War  (Holy)  at  Damiata,  19 
Water,  railed  by  machines,  at  Babylon,  25.  


E  X. 

At  Cairo,  27  From  Jofeph's  well  at 

Cairo,  33.  How  convey'd  to  the  lands  from 
Tamiea,  56.  Of  the  canals  of  Faiume  not 
good,  58.  Of  the  lake  Mceris  very  fait,  65. 
At  Akmim,  the  only  water  in  Egypt,  not  fup- 
plied  by  the  Nile,  78.  At  Jebel-Zeit,  fuppo- 
fed  of  a  healing  virtue,  142 

Weekadifaid,  a  people  fo  call'd,  137 

Weights,  antient,  brought  from  Egypt,  214 

Weft-India  coffee,  trade  of,  134 

Winds,  in  Egypt,  195.  Merify,  ib.  Meltem, 
antiently  Etefian,  ib.  Great  advantage  from 
them,  ib. 

Wine,  an  acceptable  prefent  to  a  Muffulman,  1 7 
Good,  made  at  Faiume,  58 

Wolves,  "why  worlhipped  in  Egypt,  71.  Wor- 
ftipped  at  Lycopolis,  and  why,  75.  Their 
tracks  feen  in  the  fands  at  Akmim,  80 

Women,  reckon'd  very  rude  to  approach  them  in 
the  eaftern  countries,  55.  Some  fitting  by  the 
way  fide  unveil'd,  and  their  character,  60,  79. 
Turkifti,  their  ornaments  very  coftly,  175. 
Manner  of  life,  184.  Egyptian,  their  drefs, 
191,  192.  Reckon  it  indecent  to  fiiew  the 
whole  face,  192.  Rings  and  other  ornaments, 
ib.  Not  allow'd  to  ride  on  horfes,  and  why, 
ib.  Ceremonies  obferved  by  them  at  the  fune- 
rals of  their  relations,  ib.  Rendezvous  at  the 
bagnios,  ib.  Manner  of  painting  themfelves, 
193.  Dowry  confifts  in  the  ornaments  they 
have  for  wearing,  208.  Honours  done  them 
among  the  antient  Egyptians,  227 

Wood,  petrified,  and  conjectures  about  it,  131. 

Worral,  animal  fo  called,  208.  Probably  a  mif- 
take  that  it  is  affected  by  mufic,  ib. 

Woufet,  140 

Writing,  of  the  antient  Egyptians,  account  of  it 
by  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  227. 

'  \.\,  '  :  2 
2°-^'  °f  tne  Scripture,  fince  called  Tanis,